Yıldız Erzincanlı ^* Fatma Gecikli

• Atatürk University, Erzurum, Türkiye

Digital addiction is discussed in the literature as a type of addiction that negatively affects the personal,social, and societal lives of individuals. Given its prevalence and negative effects, it is important to identify and analyze the relationship patterns between digital addiction and related variables in order to define and resolve the problem. In this context, the present study aims to determine the levels of conscious awareness and digital addiction among university students and to examine the predictive effect of conscious awareness levels and Big five variables on predicting digital addiction behaviors. The present study is designed to employ the survey method. Data were collected from 1664 university students selected by using the convenience sampling method, and the data obtained were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. The SPSS 25 and LISREL 8.8 software packages were used in the analysis process. The results achieved in this study revealed that university students have a moderate level of conscious awareness and that the overall level of digital addiction is generally moderate. The results achieved from the structural equation modeling for the measurement model constructed for the relationships between variables confirmed the validity of the proposed model. It was determined that the model had a good fit with the latent variables, which represent the indicator variables, and also other latent variables. In conclusion, it was found that Big five and the level of conscious awareness have a reducing effect on digital addiction and serve a protective function against this negativity among university students.