A - 08 Mental Health and Identity in Digital vs. Physical Sports (Individual vs. Team Dynamics)

Abstract

To investigate how digital (e-sports) vs traditional (physical) sports affect athletes’mental health outcomes and identity perceptions. 39 e-sports athletes (37 male, 2 female, aged 17–23) and 188 physical athletes (94 male, 94 female, aged 17–23) were administered the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale-Plus (AIMS-Plus), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7th Edition (GAD-7) questionnaire during baseline concussion testing. The AIMS-Plus questionnaire contains a Role Identity Rating, where athletes rate the importance of family, friendships, athletics, academics, religion, and romance in their lives (0–100). No significant differences in PHQ-9 and GAD-7 totals were observed between e-sports and physical athletes [p > 0.05]. E-sports athletes rated athletic and family identity lower than physical sports athletes (p = 0.015). Among physical sports athletes, higher athletic and family identity ratings were associated with lower PHQ-9 scores (p = 0.015), contrasting with nonsignificant findings in e-sports athletes. Among physical sports athletes, those participating in individual sports endorsed more symptoms on both GAD-7 and PHQ-9 than team sports athletes (p = 0.009; p = 0.045). Furthermore, individual sports athletes also rated family and athletic identity lower than team sports athletes (p < 0.001; p = 0.041). Sport modality (digital or physical) does not affect mental health scores, suggesting that other factors influence student-athlete emotional functioning. Stronger athletic and family-role identity may serve as protective factors against depression for physical athletes. Although e-sports athletes rated athletic and family-roles lower, they did not appear to be more likely to experience emotional distress. Findings have implications for tailoring treatment to different types of athletes.