Factors predicting the stages of change in digital games based on the Transtheoretical model among high school students in Bushehr district, south of Iran

The use of digital games is highly prevalent among adolescents and can adversely affect their physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of the stages of change in problematic digital games in high school students using a transtheoretical model.

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 703 high school students in Bushehr 2020. A valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire was performed for data gathering and analyzed using SPSS ver. 22 by descriptive indices, one-way ANOVA, chi-square, and rank ordered logistic regression.

According to the results, self-efficacy, dramatic relief and social freedom were the predictors of the change stages of reducing and quitting digital games. This means that girls and students with higher self-efficacy (P = 0.037, OR = 1.054), have a better chance of being in higher stages of change and by increasing a unit of dramatic relief score (P = 0.025, OR = 1.09) and social freedom (OR = 1.135, P <0.001), the chances of individuals to be in the upper stages of change increased.

It seems that the design of educational interventions based on self-efficacy variables and taking into account the change processes of dramatic relief and social freedom, which increase the chances of people to be placed in higher stages of change, in reducing the behavior of digital games of students, especially for boys will be effective.