A recent study conducted among middle and high school students in Türkiye revealed that students spend an average of three hours playing video games every weekday.

The research, carried out under the direction of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure's Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) Safe Internet Center, in collaboration with Muş Alparslan University, aimed to understand the digital gaming habits of students in Türkiye. The study resulted in the "Digital Gaming Habits of Secondary and High School Students in Türkiye Report," prepared by an expert academic team.

Based on data collected from 20,384 students (11,891 from secondary schools and 8,493 from high schools), the report examined various aspects of students' video game-playing habits. This included their usage of digital games, the internet, and social media, as well as their levels of happiness, cyberbullying, distress, stress and loneliness.

The research was structured into three main parts. The first part included demographic findings, parents' educational status, students' ownership of technological devices and, their digital gaming habits on weekends and weekdays, and the types of games they played.

The second part of the study summarized the results obtained from the scales used in the data collection process. Finally, the third part presented digital game addiction within the context of social media addiction, internet addiction, loneliness, happiness, cyberbullying and distress variables that influence students' digital gaming habits.

The researchers utilized an 11-question dataset to assess various aspects of adolescent behavior, including digital game addiction, internet addiction, social media addiction, happiness, cyberbullying, stress and loneliness.

The study found that 95.49% of students owned mobile phones, and on weekdays, participating students played digital games for an average of three hours per day. Approximately 35% of students were classified as having a risk of digital game addiction, indicating a potential issue among both middle and high school students.

Internet addiction was higher among high school girls compared to boys, with 31% of high school students and 20% of middle school students classified as being at "high risk" or "moderate risk" levels.

While the risk of internet addiction was similar between male and female students at the middle school level, it was higher among female students at the high school level.

Regarding social media addiction, 50% of high school students and 35% of middle school students were found to be at a severe or moderate risk.

The study also revealed that 10% of students had experienced cyberbullying to some extent, indicating a prevalence of low-grade cases of cyberbullying.

Overall, the research indicated that both high school and middle school students experienced a considerable level of distress and loneliness, with high school students generally exhibiting higher levels of distress.