An Investigation of the Relationship Between Level of Aggression, Communication Skills and Computer Game Addiction Among Secondary School Students: Structural Equation Modelling

Computer game addiction is a widespread problem, especially among children and adolescents. In order to prevent or minimize computer game addictions, it is substantial to understand why they became addicted to computer games. The reasons behind computer game addiction will also direct prospective interventions. Therefore, the research is based on these variables, considering that communication skills and aggression may cause computer game addiction. The research aims to examine the relationship between computer game addiction and aggression levels and communication skills in secondary school students by using structural equation modeling. According to the constructed structural equation model, it was expected that students' communication skills would be effective on aggression in computer game addictions. The method of the research was determined as a correlational pattern from quantitative research methods. The sample of the study consists of 1123 secondary school students (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade) who are studying in six public schools in the Serdivan, Sakarya in the 2019-2020 academic year. Data from students were collected using personal information form, Computer Game Addiction Scale for Children, Aggression Scale, and Communication Skills Evaluation Scale. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS 22.0 and AMOS. As a result of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the data showed normal distribution. Therefore, parametric tests (independent sample t-test, ANOVA) were used. In order to find answers to the problem sentence of the research, firstly, the relationship between the variables of the research was analyzed in the SPSS. Then, the structural equation model was tested in AMOS. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that the middle school students who participated in the research had low computer game addiction levels and their communication skills affected computer game addiction through aggression. Also, according to the findings, communication skills directly affected the aggression; aggression directly affected computer game addiction. Keywords: Computer game addiction, Aggression, Communication skills, Structural Equation Modeling DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-26-01 Publication date:September 30th 202