Relationship between digital addiction and crisis management skills: A study on physical education teachers

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between physical education teachers’ levels of digital addiction and their crisis management skills. This study is one of the pioneering investigations examining the interaction between physical education teachers’ levels of digital addiction and their crisis management skills using empirical data. The research is a quantitative study based on a relational screening model. (216) Physical Education Teachers participated in this research. Data were collected using the Digital Addiction Scale and the Crisis Management Scale. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was applied to test the relationship between digital addiction and crisis management skills. A low-level significant inverse relationship was found between the total score of the Digital Addiction Scale and the total score of the Crisis Management Scale (r = -0.205, p < 0.01). In contrast, stronger relationships were observed at the sub-dimension level. Specifically, a moderate and significant negative relationship was found between the “excessive use” and “relapse” subscales of the Digital Addiction Scale and the crisis-related activities subscale of the Crisis Management Scale (r = -0.315, p < 0.001). This finding suggests that excessive use of digital environments can negatively impact teachers’ decision-making and strategic thinking abilities during times of crisis. It has been shown that digital addiction hinders the development of effective crisis management skills by weakening the cognitive flexibility and emotional resilience needed by teachers in crisis management processes. Thus, digital addiction emerges as a critical factor that weakens crisis management skills in educational settings. The implementation of awareness programs in educational institutions to reduce digital addiction and the provision of practical training to strengthen teachers’ crisis management competencies stand out as the most important recommendation. It is assessed that such initiatives will make meaningful contributions to the professional development of teachers and prepare them for crisis situations.