The Relationship Between Digital Game Addiction, Computational Thinking Skills, and Well-Being of Middle School Children With and Without Congenital Heart Disease

Background: Digital gaming is an integral part of children's everyday lives and may relate to both cognitive development and psychosocial well-being. Although computational thinking is considered a key skill for navigating digital environments, limited research has examined how digital game addiction relates to computational thinking and well-being, particularly among children with chronic health conditions such as structural heart disease. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the associations among digital game addiction, computational thinking skills, and well-being among middle school children with structural heart disease and their typically developing peers. Methods: An exploratory correlational design was employed. The sample consisted of 30 children with structural heart disease and 25 typically developing peers aged 10-14 years. Data were collected using the Computational Thinking Skills Scale, the Digital Game Addiction Scale for Children, and the EPOCH Well-Being Scale. Relationships among variables were examined using correlation analyses. Results and Conclusions: Among children with structural heart disease, higher levels of digital game addiction were associated with lower creativity, collaboration, and overall computational thinking skills. Computational thinking skills were positively associated with selected dimensions of well-being, particularly connectedness and perseverance. In typically developing children, digital game addiction was negatively associated with several computational thinking dimensions, whereas perseverance and certain aspects of well-being were positively associated with computational thinking skills. Overall, digital game addiction showed limited associations with well-being in both groups. These findings suggest that the relationships among digital game addiction, computational thinking, and well-being may be complex and context-dependent. Given the exploratory correlational design and relatively small sample size, the results should be considered preliminary.