Risks of digital addiction in primary school children

Abstract

Introduction. The noticeable growth of e-learning, the widespread penetration of various digital devices into the daily lives of children in some cases can provoke the formation of dependent behavior, which necessitates research aimed at early identification of risk factors for digital addiction in younger schoolchildren. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the use of digital devices by children of primary school age. Methodology. 103 4th grade students took part in the study. To identify the structure of digital addiction of younger schoolchildren, the "Digital Addiction Scale" was used by N.S. Hawi et al., which allows children to identify the degree of addiction according to 9 criteria, such as fascination with a digital device; the amount of "screen" time; frustration when unable to use a smartphone; problems arising from digital addiction; conflicts with parents and their deception; isolation from family, hobbies, studies; the desire to constantly return to the smartphone; improved mood when using it. The results of the study. The results show that 11.7% of primary school students can be classified as dependent on digital devices. The most pronounced indicators in children are those associated with mood changes due to the inability to use a digital device (average score 8.1); isolation from family, narrowing of the circle of interests (average score 7.0). At the same time, younger schoolchildren rarely come into open conflict with their parents (an average score of 3.5) and resort to deceiving adults about the amount of time and what they do on their digital devices (an average score of 3.0). A weak difference in digital dependence between boys and girls was revealed. The relationship between the degree of digital dependence and individual parameters of divergent thinking of the child is also shown (rs = - 0.45; p <0.01). Conclusion. The results of the study show that already at primary school age, the risk of digital addiction is quite high. The results show that the problematic behavior of children in relation to digital devices indicates a significant role in reducing some parameters of divergent thinking.