Elite gamers share mental toughness with top athletes
June 11, 2020
Science Daily/Queensland University of Technology
In one of the first studies to investigate mental toughness and stress and coping in high performing esports athletes, researchers have found similarities to traditional elite athletes.
High performing esports professionals may require the same mental stamina it takes to be a top Olympian, according to latest QUT research.
A new study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, indicated an overlap between the mental toughness and stress-coping processes in traditional sports and competitive esports athletes.
Competitive esports athletes appear to cope with stressors similarly to high-performing sports athletes
esports players with higher ranks tended to have higher levels of mental toughness
sports psychology interventions for high-performing sports athletes may also be beneficial to competitive esports athletes.
QUT esports researcher Dylan Poulus said 316 esports players aged 18 and over were studied from among the top 40 per cent of players.
"A disposition considered to be influential in sporting success is mental toughness and it appears to be important for success in esports," Mr Poulus said.
"To be a millionaire esports gamer you deal with stress similar as if you are getting ready to go to the Olympics.
"It is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and with the coronavirus pandemic there has been huge interest."
The study used athletes who played Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rainbow Six: Siege, Defence of the Ancients 2 and League of Legends competitively.
Events can draw more than 60 million online views.
Mr Poulus said the study identified some of the mental skills required for optimal performance among gamers, including high levels of mental toughness, emotional control, and life control.
"Similar to traditional sports athletes, esports athletes with higher mental toughness employed more problem-focused coping strategies which aided in their success," he said.
However, the findings also showed how esports athletes with high mental toughness employed emotion-focused coping strategies like acceptance coping.
"By accepting the elements of their game that are beyond their control could lead to better performance," Mr Poulus said.
"Everything we see in sports psychology interventions that work with traditional sports is likely going to work with esports athletes."
Mr Poulus is completing his PhD at QUT's Faculty of Health school of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences.
The research, titled Stress and Coping in Esports and the Influence of Mental Toughness, was co-authored by Michael Trotter, Dr Tristan Coulter and Professor Remco Polman.
This study was one of the first studies to investigate mental toughness and stress and coping in performing esports athletes.
Further research is investigating what specifically causes stress to high performing esports athletes.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200611104801.htm
Esports organizations look to optimize player sleep
January 21, 2020
Science Daily/Flinders University
A study has used sleep tracking devices and mood measures (anxiety and depression) to determine how well esports athletes around the world sleep, and the effect this has on their mental health and well being. Preliminary results have shown that esports athletes are not getting the sleep (7-9hrs p/night for young adults aged 18-25) needed to best support optimal mental health and performance.
Esports has developed from relative obscurity into a billion dollar global industry, with an estimated 453 million viewers worldwide in 2019 -- and its set to get even bigger.
Despite esports rapid rise in popularity, there has been a notable lack of research available to support the needs of esports athletes but this is starting to change.
A study has used sleep tracking devices and mood measures (anxiety and depression) to determine how well esports athletes around the world sleep, and the effect this has on their mental health and well being.
Preliminary results have shown that esports athletes are not getting the sleep (7-9hours p/night for young adults aged 18-25) needed to best support optimal mental health and performance.
Leading the way is a multinational sleep team that includes clinical psychologist and PhD candidate Daniel Bonnar and Professor Michael Gradisar (Flinders University), Associate Professor Aly Suh and PhD candidate Sangha Lee (Sungshin University), Associate Professor Brandy Roane (University of North Texas) and Dr Daniel Blum (Stanford University).
Daniel Bonnar says innovative esports organisations around the world are now starting to actively look at how they could better support the health needs of their players, with sleep being apart of that.
"Global esports giant Gen.G from South Korea, and Perth-based Ground Zero were the first two teams to sign up to our project, which really demonstrated their commitment to promoting player wellness and performance" says Daniel.
Other esports organisations now involved include Kanga Esports and Gravitas from Australia.
"The benefit of working with esports organisations from different countries is that it allows us to develop a global view of the sleep habits of esports athletes," Daniel added.
As to the study's findings, preliminary results have shown that esports athletes are not getting the sleep (7-9hrs p/night for young adults aged 18-25) needed to best support optimal mental health and performance.
"From the data we've collected so far, we can see a trend that many esports athletes obtain less than 7hrs of sleep p/night, have a tendency to want to sleep and wake very late, with mood impacted as a result in some players," says Professor Michael Gradisar. "Although these late sleeping patterns might be ok for some players, for others it could be an issue with conflicting daytime commitments encroaching on their sleep schedule."
Phase two of the project will be to improve players' sleep using a sleep intervention designed to address their specific sleep needs.
"If we can improve the sleep of esports athletes, this will translate into enhanced well being which can only be helpful for performance as well," says Professor Gradisar.
Gravitas team owner Sean Callanan says "I'm looking forward to Gravitas players understanding the importance of sleep and how it can affect their performance for practice and on game days. I know it's become a focus in traditional pro-sports, so esports should be following their lead."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200121123958.htm