What Do Post-Pandemic Graduate Theses Reveal About Behavioral and Digital Addictions? A Bibliometric Analysis

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Yılmaz T., Koç Y. Z., Kul M.

ADDICTA-THE TURKISH JOURNAL ON ADDICTIONS, cilt.12, sa.4, ss.442-449, 2025 (ESCI, Scopus, TRDizin)

Özet

The aim of this study is to examine theses on addiction conducted in Türkiye. For this purpose, gradu-

ate theses related to addiction, covering the post-pandemic period from 2021 to 2024 and available in the

National Thesis Center, were analyzed. Titles and contents containing the term “addiction” were identified

using the keyword “bağımlı*.” A total of 1299 master’s theses, 178 medical specialization theses, and 126

doctoral theses were retrieved. After applying exclusion criteria to 195 theses with restricted access, 1604

studies were included in the evaluation. Using the document analysis method, data such as thesis numbers,

authors, publication years, topics, sample age ranges, group sizes, types of addiction, and subcategories

of addiction were entered into an Excel document and subsequently analyzed. Some key findings from the

study are as follows: In 2018, there were 229 theses on addiction, which increased to 452 in 2019. During the

pandemic year of 2020, the number dropped to 274 but rose again to 440 in 2021. In the following years,

the number of theses on addiction was recorded as 398 in 2022, 463 in 2023, and 498 in 2024. The study

examined substance-related, behavioral/digital, and other types of addictions, while non-psychological or

non-psychiatric terms (e.g., addiction to educational materials) were excluded from the analysis. The find-

ings indicate that the number of addiction-related theses increased after the pandemic, with a particularly

notable rise in theses focusing on behavioral and digital addictions. This trend suggests that contemporary

problem areas are reflected in academic research and investigated in theses required for specialization. The

most common disciplines for addiction-related theses were identified as psychology, sports, education and

instruction, family medicine, nursing, and psychiatry. Among addiction types, digital addictions were the

most frequently studied, followed by substance-related addictions. Many addiction-related theses were at

the master’s, doctoral, and medical specialization levels, whereas proficiency in arts theses paid significantly

less attention to this topic.