Examination of the Relationship Between the Social Skills and Internet Addiction of Preschool Teachers

The purpose of this study is to reveal whether social skill levels of preschool teachers have a predictor effect on the internet addiction or not. The sample group of the study consists of 150 teachers rendering service in kindergarten classes at primary schools of Denizli Provincial Directorate for National Education, as well as independent kindergartens and practice kindergartens. In the study, Social Skills Inventory (SSI) was used to measure the social skill levels of teachers and Internet Addiction Scale (IAS) was used to measure their internet addiction. According to results, there is a significant relationship between the internet addiction levels of teachers and all the subscale levels of social skills. According to this result, as level of one of the subscales of social skills increases, the internet addiction decreases and as the social skill level decreases, the internet addiction level increases. In addition, the internet addictions of preschool teachers are predicted by the social sensitivity skills, which are among the social skills, at most. They are followed by social control, emotional control and emotional expressivity.