The psychological well-being of children who play digital games during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had serious effects on children in early childhood as well as on all age groups. Detecting and examining these effects with various studies is vitally important. Hence, current research aims to examine the relationship between digital play addiction tendencies and psychological well-being levels of 5- to 6-year-old children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses the relational survey model, a descriptive research method. The data were collected over seven months in 2021 from January to July. Digital Play Addiction Tendency Scale and the Psychological Well-Being Scale for 5 or 6-Year-Old Children (PWBiC) were used as the data collection tools. As a result, overplay of digital games and the psychological well-being of 5–6 years-old children have a relationship that may affect the child’s health and development. This research contributes to existing knowledge of child well-being by providing notable findings about the interrelation between overplay of digital games and the psychological well-being of children during the lockdown period of COVID-19. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.