Daily digital gaming, weekly training duration, and perceived fatigue in athletes: indirect statistical associations involving digital game addiction awareness

Introduction Digital gaming is a common leisure activity among athletes, yet its associations with weekly training duration and perceived fatigue remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the direct and indirect associations among daily digital gaming duration, weekly training duration, digital game addiction awareness, and perceived physical and cognitive fatigue. Methods A cross-sectional correlational design was employed with 587 adult athletes from team and individual sports in Istanbul, Türkiye. Data were collected using the Awareness of Digital Game Addiction Scale and the Scale of Physical and Cognitive Fatigue Perceived. Structural equation modeling with bias-corrected bootstrapping was performed. Results Daily digital gaming duration (β = .41, p < .001) and weekly training duration (β = .24, p < .001) were positively associated with digital game addiction awareness, which was associated with perceived physical fatigue (β = .32, p < .001) and cognitive fatigue (β = .38, p < .001). Significant indirect associations involving digital game addiction awareness were observed for both gaming and training duration within the specified model. The model showed acceptable fit (χ 2 (4) = 9.64, CFI = .95, RMSEA = .049, SRMR = .041). Discussion The findings indicate significant concurrent associations among the study variables. However, given the cross-sectional design, the indirect associations should not be interpreted as evidence of temporal or causal mediation.