Effects of digital game addiction on cardiovascular health behavior on secondary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate factors affecting digital game addiction in secondary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of digital game addiction on cardiovascular health behavior. Design and methods: This descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional study was conducted with 619 secondary school students aged 10-14 years. Study data were analyzed using World Health Organization AnthroPlus and SPSS programs. Simple linear regression and multiple linear regression methods were used in the analysis process.Results: Findings showed that 43.6% of the students played digital games for more than two hours a day. Descrip-tive characteristics (gender, age, basal metabolic rate, educational status of parent, income status, etc.) and digital gaming habits of the students accounted for 37.0% of the variance in digital game addiction. Digital game addic-tion adversely affected cardiovascular health behavior and all its sub-dimensions.Conclusion: The first factor that predicted digital game addiction, in order of significance, was daily digital game playing time. Digital game addiction negatively affected the sedentary lifestyle sub-dimension of cardiovascular health behavior most. Digital game addiction may trigger an increase in the incidence of diseases such as diabe-tes, cancer, and especially cardiovascular diseases, at later ages.Practice implications: Nurses, schools, and parents have critical responsibilities in preventing digital game addic-tion. Results of this research will make a remarkable contribution to the development of preventive services by revealing risk factors for digital game addiction and the effects of digital game addiction on cardiovascular health behavior.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.