COVID-19 Pandemic, Loneliness and Digital Game Addiction

Abstract

Aim: The recent pandemic has spread all over the world and has become a common global problem. Pandemics leave significant marks on the memories. Going beyond a cause of disease or death, they can have consequences in many aspects; social, physical, and psychological. Aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the pandemic period on students’ loneliness and digital game addiction levels. Methods: The study group consisted of 398 volunteer 5th-8th grade students from Altın Vuruş Karate Center and Defne Middle School in Hatay, Turkey. As data collection tools, "Digital Game Addiction Scale" developed by Lemmens et al. (2009), and "UCLA Loneliness Scale" developed by Russell et al. (1980) were used. The SPSS program was used for the analysis of the data. Results: According to research findings, it was found that there was a statistically low positive correlation between digital game addiction and loneliness (p=0.002, r=0.155). The game addiction and loneliness level of students increased during the Covid-19 pandemic (p<0, 05). As the age of students increases their level of addiction also increases (p<0.05). Conclusion: Being a licensed athlete didn't have significant effect on the game addiction level of students during the Covid-19 period (p>0, 05), however they felt more lonely during the period (p<0.05). Keywords: COVID-19 Process; Game Addiction; Loneliness; Students; Sport