Stressors, associated responses, and coping strategies in professional esports players: A qualitative study

To inform future intervention strategies and enhance professional esports players’ performance, this qualitative study investigated stressors, associated stress responses, and coping strategies experienced by professional League of Legends players. Following criterion-based sampling, semi-structured interviews with 12 professional esports players were performed. The findings illustrate a variety of stressors related to team, performance, audience, and social media. Associated stress responses prior to competition (e.g., nervousness and excitement) seemed to be suppressed during competition, whereas post-competition responses were related to the outcome of competition. Although a range of strategies were identified, players most frequently communicated with teammates or coaches and focused on performance when coping with stressors. Study results show a need to teach players how to recognize and regulate associated stress responses, and to gain an in-depth understanding of stressors, coping strategies, and their effects on performance.