Predictors of Gaming Addiction Among University Students: Gender, Spiritual Well- Being, and Meaning in Life

Game addiction attracts the attention of researchers as a current public health problem. Investigating the variables associated with game addiction will provide a better understanding of the problem. Spiritual well-being and meaning of life variables can be considered as concepts negatively related to game addiction. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine the relationship between game addiction and spiritual well-being and meaning of life in university students. The research group consisted of 300 university students, 229 (76.3%) of whom were female and 71 (23.7%) of whom were male. The ages of the participants ranged between 19 and 25 and the average age was 20.68. Personal information form, game playing disorder scale, spiritual well-being scale and meaning of life scales were used as data collection tools. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that there was a negative relationship between game addiction and spiritual well-being and meaning of life. In addition, it was determined that gender, age, spiritual well-being and the presence meaning of life sub-dimension predicted game addiction negatively. According to the results obtained from the study, as spiritual well-being and meaning of life increase, game addiction decreases.