Digital Play Addiction Tendency and Aggressive Behaviors Among Turkish Preschoolers: Evidence from Parent Reports

The escalating exposure of young children to digital gaming necessitates a critical examination of its behavioral impacts. However, evidence regarding its influence on aggressive behavior remains limited. This study investigated the relationship between digital play addiction tendency and our dimensions of aggression: physical aggression, relational aggression, self-directed aggression, and aggression against objects. This study employed a cross-sectional design, gathering data through parent assessments. The sample consisted of 744 children aged 4 to 6 years. The average age of the participants was 33.5, with 82% of the sample being female. The participants came from a lower (27%), middle (37%), and high (36%) socioeconomic background. The data were analyzed using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach to test the hypothesized relationships. The main findings from the SEM analysis indicated that a higher digital play addiction tendency was a significant positive predictor of all four dimensions of aggression. These results highlight the potential adverse effects of digital play addiction tendency on the development of maladaptive behaviors in early childhood. This study underscores the urgent need to develop strategies that foster healthier digital media consumption and mitigate the adverse effects of digital gaming on children's developmental outcomes.