Sleep Characteristics and Mood of Professional Esports Athletes: A Multi-National Study

Abstract

Esports is becoming increasingly professionalized, yet research on performance management is remarkably lacking. The present study aimed to investigate the sleep and mood of professional esports athletes. Participants were 17 professional esports athletes from South Korea (N = 8), Australia (N = 4), and the United States (N = 5) who played first person shooter games (mean age 20 ± 3.5 years, 100% male). All participants wore a wrist-activity monitor for 7–14 days and completed subjective sleep and mood questionnaires. Participants had a median total sleep time of 6.8 h and a sleep efficiency of 86.4% per night. All participants had significantly delayed sleep patterns (median sleep onset 3:43 a.m. and wake time 11:24 a.m.). Participants had a median sleep onset latency of 20.4 min and prolonged wake after sleep onset of 47.9 min. Korean players had significantly higher depression scores compared to the other groups (p < 0.01) and trained longer per day than the Australian or United States teams (13.4 vs. 4.8 vs. 6.1 h, respectively). Depression scores were strongly correlated with number of awakenings, wake after sleep onset, and daily training time (p < 0.05). As the first pilot sleep study in the esports field, this study indicates that esports athletes show delayed sleep patterns and have prolonged wake after sleep onset. These sleep patterns may be associated with mood (depression) and training time. Sleep interventions designed specifically for esports athletes appear warranted.

Sleep Characteristics in Esport Players and Associations With Game Performance: Residual Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling

“…The current results showed later sleep onset and sleep offset than what is normal among athletes in other traditional sports (Hrozanova et al, 2020 ). However, the results in the current study confirm results from a recent study among esport players that show both delayed sleep patterns and prolonged wake after sleep onset (Lee et al, 2021 ). A potential explanation might be that games are played among competitors in every global time zone, and hence also at night time.…”

“…A recent study in a comparable sport such as chess and within the same age group reported shorter sleep time (6:44) (Moen et al, 2020 ). A recent study among professional esport players showed a median total sleep time of 6:48 h per night over a period of 7–14 days (Lee et al, 2021 ), and another study reported median total sleep time 7:26 h per night (Lee et al, 2020 ). Thus, the total sleep time among esport players seems to be 7 h per night ±15 min.…”

“…However, sleep can be disturbed by stress (Eliasson and Vernalis, 2011 ), and esport players in particular are likely to suffer of suboptimal sleep because of their exposure to a range of other potential risk factors (e.g., coffeine use, competition events held in every global time zone, light exposure from screens, and lack of physical activity) (Bonnar et al, 2019 ; Lee et al, 2020 ). However, to the authors best knowledge, research that describes and investigates esport players' sleep patterns and distribution of the different sleep stages, is missing (Lee et al, 2021 ).…”

Mental health symptoms in electronic football players

“…15 Different studies acknowledge the presence of sleep problems in esports players. [43][44][45] Competition, which might induce distress and anxiety, as previously stated, has been associated with sleep disturbance before competition 45 and prolonged sleep onset and offset times. 45 Coping strategies and alcohol consumption Poor mental health also seemed to be associated with alcohol consumption in athletes 42 and the general Portuguese population.…”

Esports Spectating Motives and Streaming Consumption: Moderating Effect of Game Genres and Live-Streaming Types

“…Although the MOBA game genres are played in a high-intensity situation, spectators can be gratified when playing and can escape from daily worries into the simulated competitive community. Since gameplay in a high-intensity situation typically causes longer playing time, which may lead to a higher depressed mood [34], the players of MOBA game genres might be attracted by the opportunity to release their tension. The action game genre features single-player experiences, and the actual action can provide an opportunity for viewers to let their minds wander.…”