Mental ill health in professional esports athletes: Prevalence and relationships

Birch, P. D. J., Sharpe, B. T., Ortiz de Gortari, A., Arumuham, A. and Smith, M. J. (2022) Mental ill health in professional esports athletes: Prevalence and relationships. In: FEPSAC 2022, Padova: 16th European Congress of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 11 - 16 July 2022, Padova, Italy.

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Abstract

The esports industry has seen a dramatic acceleration in growth over the last decade (Himmelstein, et al., 2017), which has led to an increased interest into the science underpinning performance and player health. Although research has consistently highlighted the mental health benefits associated with sport (Stanton & Reaburn, 2014), athletes are not protected against developing mental illness and are often highlighted as most at risk during the peak of their competitive years (Allen & Hopkins, 2015). Consequently, it is important to investigate the stressors faced by athletes and the impact they may have on performance and mental health. Preliminary research in esports has argued that stress may negatively impact performance and player health (see review by Leis & Lautenbach, 2020). Inspection of the literature highlights an array of variables which are understood to influence one’s mental health, including social phobia anxiety (Sioni et al., 2017), sleep quality (Lee et al., 2021), and burnout (Madigan et al., 2019; Rice et al., 2016). However, it is clear that more investigations are warranted within the esports community. The aim of this study is to examine the predictors (i.e., stressors, sleep, social phobia anxiety, burnout) of mental ill health (general and clinical symptoms) in professional first-person shooter esports athletes. Data are currently being collected using Qualtrics survey tool. Regression analyses will be used to examine the relationships between tested variables.

Publication Type: Conference or Workshop Items (Speech)
Uncontrolled Keywords: mental health, mental ill health, stress, elite athletes, esports, depression, anxiety, burnout, sleep, stressors
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV1199 Games and amusements > GV1469.15 Computer games. Video games. Fantasy games
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV557 Sports
Q Science > Q Science (General)
Divisions: Academic Areas > Institute of Sport > Area > Exercise Physiology
Academic Areas > Institute of Sport > Research Theme > Enhancing Sport Performance
Research Entities > POWER Centre
Research Entities > Centre for Health and Allied Sport and Exercise Science Research (CHASER)
Event Title: FEPSAC 2022, Padova: 16th European Congress of Sport & Exercise Psychology
Event Location: Padova, Italy
Event Dates: 11 - 16 July 2022
Depositing User: Phil Birch
Date Deposited: 15 Jan 2024 11:30
Last Modified: 04 Jun 2024 11:23
URI: https://eprints.chi.ac.uk/id/eprint/7277

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