Study of the Level of Sports Addiction Among Students at the Faculty of Sports Science

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The aim of this study was to investigate the exercise addiction of the students of the School of Physical Education and Sport and to determine the differences according to the type of exercise, age of exercise and load dynamics. The Exercise Addiction Scale (EBÖ-21) developed by Housenblas and Downs (2002) and the Turkish Validity and Reliability Study by Yeltepe and İkizler (2007) and the Personal Information Form were applied to the sample group. The sample of the study consisted of 245 athletes who regularly train at Afyon Kocatepe University School of Physical Education and Sports. Studies on this subject indicate that addiction to sports is similar to addiction to chemical substances due to the presence of withdrawal and tolerance symptoms. The results of the study presented show that self-confidence and athletic performance increase as the students' level increases. When evaluating exercise addiction by gender, it was found that female students were more likely than male students to consider physical problems and show self-control and interruption of exercise behaviour. When evaluated by age, exercise addiction was found to have decreased and been brought under control in older individuals, indicating progress in self-control of addiction.