The Role of Experience, Perceived Match Importance, and Anxiety on Cortisol Response in an Official Esports Competition

Conceptualization and validation of the TILT questionnaire: relationship with IGD and life satisfaction

Currently, the study of esports is growing within the field of psychology. Among the different variables attracting interest - including stress or psychological factors associated with performance - an emerging concept known as tilt is gaining prominence in the literature. However, this construct has yet to be operationalized or defined. Thus, the present study aims to address this gap by defining and conceptualizing TILT while devising and validating a questionnaire to measure the construct in esports players. The initial phase of the study comprised 27 interviews conducted with professional players (n = 6), semi-professionals (n = 8), amateurs (n = 8), and coaches (n = 5) to characterize the concept of tilt. Following these interviews, a definition of tilt was formulated, and a panel of five experts in sports psychology and esports proposed a comprehensive set of 53 items. A total of 488 participants (278 males, 210 females), aged 18-50 (mean age = 26.9 years, SD = 7.57), completed the survey, including the 53 tilt items, a questionnaire measuring toxic behavior, and the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS9-SF). The tilt construct is primarily characterized as a state of frustration escalating into anger, resulting in diminished performance, attention, and recurring negative thoughts about errors. Its onset typically coincides with stressful situations, persisting for approximately 30 min. Through an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), 18 items were retained and categorized into two factors: Causes (7 Items) and Consequences (11 Items) of tilt. The entire questionnaire yielded a Cronbach's α of 0.922, with the first and second factors showing values of 0.854 and 0.890, respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed an acceptable fit for the 2-factor solution. Correlations with related constructs, such as Toxic Behavior and IGD, provided preliminary evidence of external validity. Empirical evidence for the validity and internal consistency of the Tilt Scale is robust, indicating its potential utility in future research on the psychological experiences of esports players.

Nootropic supplements for esports

Background: esports, or organized video game competitions, have been expanding quickly. The use of dietary supplements by esports players appears vulgarized but lacks supporting evidence. Objectives: To outline studies that tested the effects of dietary supplements on video gaming, summarize their findings, highlight knowledge gaps, and recommend future research. Eligibility criteria: Clinical trials published in English between 1990 and 2023 that assessed the effects of dietary supplements on the cognitive performance of video gamers. Sources of evidence: The Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. Charting methods: PRISMA's (2020) flow diagram was used to create the data chart. Results: Sixteen studies were outlined. Thirteen were randomized, thirteen applied acute interventions, ten applied a crossover design and only three weren't placebo-controlled. Of the 10 studies that included caffeine (40-200 mg), four reported significant positive effects on cognition (attention, processing speed, working memory), two on first-person shooter video gaming performance (reaction time, hit accuracy, time to hit 60 targets), and one on Tetris game score. All 3 studies that included arginine silicate (1500 mg) reported significant improvements in one or more aspects of cognition (reaction time, attention, visual representation, and spatial planning). Two studies that tested sucrose (21 and 26.8 g) didn't report significant improvements, while one study that tested 26.1 g of glucose registered significant positive effects on processing speed and sustained attention. Conclusions: The published literature has focused on the effects of caffeine, which may exert both positive and negative effects on esports players. Additional, high-quality research is needed.

Applying a synergistic mindsets intervention to an esports context

Affective responses during stressful, high-stakes situations can play an important role in shaping performance. For example, feeling shaky and nervous at a job interview can undermine performance, whereas feeling excited during that same interview can optimize performance. Thus, affect regulation-the way people influence their affective responses-might play a key role in determining high-stakes outcomes. To test this idea, we adapted a synergistic mindsets intervention (SMI) (Yeager et al. 2022 Nature 607, 512-520 (doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04907-7)) to a high-stakes esports context. Our approach was motivated by the idea that (i) mindsets both about situations and one's stress responses to situations can be shaped to help optimize stress responses, and (ii) challenge versus threat stress responses will be associated with improved outcomes. After a baseline performance task, we randomly assigned gamers (n = 300) either to SMI or a control condition in which they learned brain facts. After two weeks of daily gaming, gamers competed in a cash-prize tournament. We measured affective experiences before the matches and cardiovascular responses before and throughout the matches. Contrary to predictions, gamers did not experience negative affect (including feeling stressed), thus limiting the capacity for the intervention to regulate physiological responses and optimize performance. Compared with the control participants, synergistic mindsets participants did not show greater challenge responses or improved performance outcomes. Though our adaptation of Yeager et al.'s SMI did not optimize esports performance, our findings point to important considerations regarding the suitability of an intervention such as this to different performance contexts of varying degrees of stressfulness.

An Exploratory Study on the Conceptualization of Burnout among the Professional Esports Athletes: Focused on League of Legends Champions Korea League

Research on the stress and burnout experienced by athletes in the esports field remains limited, necessitating an approach that considers the unique environment and circumstances of esports athletes. This study aims to explore the conceptualization of burnout experiences among professional esports athletes. The participants included 88 athletes from the League of Legends Championship Korea (LCK). Among these, in-depth interviews were conducted with 7 athletes who had experience in international tournaments (the World Championship), while an open-ended survey was completed by 81 athletes. Data collected through in-depth interviews and an open-ended survey were digitized and utilized for analysis. Through critical review by another author and inductive categorization, the conceptual components of esports athletes' burnout were derived. Through the analysis of 251 raw datum, it was conceptualized into five conceptual factors: performance, overtraining, interpersonal relationships, physical and psychological exhaustion, and career and motivation. The results of this study confirm that esports athletes, like athletes in other conventional sports, experience burnout during their careers, highlighting issues in their unique environment, particularly in aspects of interpersonal relationships and training and rest conditions. This research can serve as a foundational resource for effective athletes' psychological health management in the esports field and underscores the need for further research on burnout among esports athletes.

Playing for keeps or just playing with emotion? Studying tilt and emotion regulation in video games

Introduction

In video gaming, tilt is thought to relate to poor emotional control and game performance. Despite widespread recognition of tilt in video gaming, there is a lack of research examining tilt empirically.

Methods

One thousand and seven gamers took part in our online study examining gamers experience of tilt, the factors which contribute to and protect against tilt, and the emotion regulation strategies gamers employ to deal with tilt.

Results

Gamers who reported playing for more competitive reasons, were at higher risk of experiencing tilt. Additional factors associated with an increased risk of experiencing tilt were increased anger and more hours spent playing. Protective factors against experiencing tilt were also identified, inclusive of a greater number of years gaming experience and engagement in adaptive emotion regulation strategies.

Discussion

This study provides an important starting point for creating a better understanding of tilt in gaming, equipping us with new knowledge to better support gamers to improve their emotion regulation during game play performance.

The impact of videogames on the mood of amateur youth players during consecutive games

Introduction

Esports have experienced tremendous growth in recent years. In the scientific field, previous research has shown the determining role of psychology in competitive performance, but little is known about the factors that may be more determinant. In addition, in the amateur field, where fun and enjoyment are the most important factors, it has been observed that players can see their psychological state altered due to different factors, but it is not known if the outcome of the game (win or lose) can be influential. For this reason, the aim of the present investigation was to analyze changes in players' mood between three consecutive games as a function of the outcome of each game.

Methods

A total of 14 amateur players participated in the research, all of them with previous experience and being regular League of Legends players. The participants completed the POMS questionnaire before the start of each game and the outcome of each game was recorded at the end.

Results

The results showed that no significant pre-game differences were found in any of the games, regardless of winning or losing. Significant differences were found in the pre-game mood between the first and second game, according to the outcome of the first game, and between the second and third game, according to the outcome of the second game. Between the first and second games, there was a significant increase in depression (p = 0.038) and anger (p = 0.003) when the first game was lost; and between the second and third games, there was a decrease in tension (p = 0.003) and anger (p = 0.022) when the second game was won. In addition, it should be noted that fatigue increased significantly after each game, regardless of the outcome, and with respect to the change in mood, this was more noticeable when the first game was lost and the second was won, as significant changes were observed in tension (p = 0.028), depression (p = 0.030) and anger (p = 0.006).

Conclusion

Pre-match mood does not influence post-match performance, but mood changes do occur between successive matches depending on the outcome of the match.

Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Reduces Competitive Anxiety and Modulates Heart Rate Variability in an eSports Player

Previous research has recently shown that high cognitive and somatic anxiety and low self-confidence, before and during sport competitions have a significant correlation with heart rate variability (HRV) changes and can reduce overall athletic performance. Therefore, interventions, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), can be a potential tool to reduce psychophysiological anxiety-related and enhance athletic performance. We present a case of a male professional athlete of eSports. We explored the effects of a single session of anodal tDCS (a-tDCS) at 2mA over the dosrsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on competitive anxiety and HRV assessed in baseline (BL), pre-tDCS, post-tDCS and post-game moments and compared between moments. Here, we found a decrease in somatic and cognitive anxiety, as well as an increase in self-confidence and in SDNN index in the post-tDCS moment compared with BL, pre-tDCS and post-game moments. These findings can be a result of an acute change in the attentional state, influencing the processing of threatening information essential for cognitive anxiety and of a self-regulatory process, which can regulate physiological arousal response, such as HRV.

Arousal/Stress Effects of "Overwatch" eSports Game Competition in Collegiate Gamers

ABSTRACT

Kraemer, WJ, Caldwell, LK, Post, EM, Beeler, MK, Emerson, A, Volek, JS, Maresh, CM, Fogt, JS, Fogt, N, Häkkinen, K, Newton, RU, Lopez, P, Sanchez, BN, and Onate, JA. Arousal/stress effects of "Overwatch" eSports game competition in collegiate gamers. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2022-To date, no physical response data are available for one of the most popular eSport games, Overwatch. The purpose of this investigation was to describe the stress signaling associated with competitive Overwatch play and to understand how acute hormonal responses may affect performance. Thirty-two male college-aged gamers (age: 21.3 ± 2.7 years; estimated time played per week: 18 ± 15 hours) completed the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to a 6-player team to compete in a tournament-style match. Salivary measures of cortisol and testosterone were collected immediately before (PRE) and after (POST) the first-round game, with the heart rate recorded continuously during the match. The mean characteristics were calculated for each variable and comparisons made by the skill level. Significance was defined as p ≤ 0.05. There were no differences in measures of salivary cortisol. A differential response pattern was observed by the skill level for testosterone. The low skill group displayed a significant increase in testosterone with game play (mean ± SD, testosterone PRE: 418.3 ± 89.5 pmol·L-1, POST: 527.6 ± 132.4 pmol·L-1, p < 0.001), whereas no change was observed in the high skill group. There were no differences in heart rate characteristics between skill groups. Overall, the average heart rate was 107.2 ± 17.8 bpm with an average max heart rate of 133.3 ± 19.1 bpm. This study provides unique physiological evidence that a sedentary Overwatch match modulates endocrine and cardiovascular responses, with the skill level emerging as a potential modulator.

Associations Between Esports Participation and Health: A Scoping Review

Esports are a contemporary phenomenon, with millions of people involved. Still, scientific literature on the topic is scarce. Anecdotal reports, mostly based on what is known from videogames practice, have associated esports with unhealthy lifestyles and health-related problems. The present scoping review aimed to provide an overview of findings from studies regarding the health and well-being in adult esports players, while identifying the most studied topics in the field and those still lacking scientific research.The search was conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, B-on, and ESCBO databases. Studies regarding health consequences of esports practice conducted with adult esports players were included. No exclusion criteria concerning age, sex, esports modality, or esports level were applied, but articles related to other forms of video gaming or gambling were excluded. The search was limited to peer-reviewed articles. Opinion and review articles were excluded.There were 1416 articles retrieved from which 33 met the inclusion criteria. Lifestyle habits, sleep, exercise and physical health (including musculoskeletal health), physiological demands, and mental health were the main topics of investigation. Several gaps in the literature were identified, namely studies on cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic health, or consuming-related risks. Also, the lack of homogeneous methodologies and definitions used in esports-related studies was identified.Esports practice has been associated with different health-related symptoms, but more studies using more robust methodologies and appropriate research design are needed. Topics such as cardiovascular health or the use of performance-enhancing drugs are lacking.