Mental Toughness, Self-compassion, And Mental Health In Esports: A Meditation Analysis

Abstract

Promotion of mental health (MH) issues has been lately a priority in several sport organizations in the US (e.g., NCAA, NFL, NBA). Self-compassion (SC) and mental toughness (MT) have been proven successful against stressors associated with sports. Preliminary evidence have shown a positive relationship between MT and MH, SC and MH, and MT and SC. These constructs have never been investigated in eSports, an industry that has grown considerably in the recent years. PURPOSE: To confirm the three aforementioned relationships and explore the mechanism underlying these relationships in eSports. Hypotheses: (1) MT will correlate positively with MH, (2) SC will correlate positively with MH, (3) MT will correlate positively with SC, and (4) SC will mediate the MT-MH relationship. METHODS: In total, 16 recreational gamers (>6hours per week) agreed to participate (Mage = 22, SD = 2.69). Three inventories were administered via Qualtrics: Mental Toughness Index, Self-Compassion Scale, and Mental Health Continuum – Short Form. The analysis consisted of Pearson correlations and mediation analysis in R. RESULTS: The estimated correlations between MT and MH was .55, MT and SC was .71, and MH and SC was .61. In the preliminary mediation model, the estimated standardized regression coefficient of MH on MT was 0.55. The same estimate after adding SC was 0.23. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that (a) all three variables are positively correlated to each other and (b) SC reduced, or mediated, the relationship between MT and MH by 0.32 units. Therefore, evidence to support all four hypotheses was found. The correlations are in accordance with findings from Gucciardi, Hanton, and Fleming (2017), Neff, Rude, and Kirkpatrick (2007), and Wilson, Bennett, Mosewich, Faulkner, and Crocker (2019). The mediation analysis findings suggest that the relationship between MT and MH is partially explained by SC and confirm outcomes from Padgett, Forsse, Papadakis, Deal, and Stamatis (2019). The above could have important implications for eSports Psychological Skill Training (PST) practice in the effort of general prevention/early intervention of MH: not only these three variables are positively correlated but a better understanding of the relationship between MT and MH is now offered for this unique sporting environment.