HEALTHY PREVENTIVE SPORTS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND RELATIONSHIP WITH ELECTRONIC ADDICTION AMONG SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ALGERIA

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between healthy preventive sports physical activity and electronic addiction among school students in Algeria.The sample consisted of 60 students (30 males and 30 females) aged between 15 and 17 years from Guelma Province, divided equally into practitioners (n = 15) and nonpractitioners (n = 15) for each gender.The research employed Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) to assess electronic addiction levels and the Shot Put Test to evaluate upper-body explosive strength as an indicator of physical performance.Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS v25, applying descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and independent-samples t-tests at a significance level of α = 0.05.Results showed statistically significant differences between practitioners and non-practitioners in both variables for males and females.Among male students, practitioners achieved a higher mean score in the Shot Put Test (M = 9.80, SD = 1.52) compared to nonpractitioners (M = 6.53,SD = 1.85), while recording a markedly lower mean score in electronic addiction (M = 28.93,SD = 6.23) versus non-practitioners (M = 72.60,SD = 15.10).The differences were significant (t = 5.288 and t = -10.355,p < 0.05).Similarly, female practitioners displayed superior physical performance in the Shot Put Test (M = 7.43, SD = 1.18) compared to non-practitioners (M = 5.15, SD = 1.03), and much lower electronic addiction levels (M = 28.53,SD = 6.39) versus (M = 70.60,SD = 16.28), with significant differences (t = 5.639 and t = -9.317,p < 0.05).These findings confirm a strong inverse relationship between engagement in preventive physical activity and electronic addiction.Regular physical activity contributes not only to improved muscular strength but also to better self-regulation, reduced screen dependency, and enhanced psychological well-being among adolescents.