The Good Game project: Promoting mental health in esports (GG)

Traditional sports and esports share many qualities and characteristics. The potential value and benefits (e.g., positive youth development) of esports are also increasingly recognised.

Nevertheless, preliminary evidence suggests esports participation can be highly stressful and have a potential negative mental health impact. Such findings highlight the urgent need for novel mental health interventions tailored to esports athletes. The main aim and vision of the ‘Good Game (GG): Promoting mental health in esports’ project is, thus, to develop and promote a mental health intervention within the European esports context. More specifically, the aim is to develop a multicomponent online modular psychoeducational intervention. The modules are carefully selected based on the available literature and together are expected to contribute to a complete state of mental health in esports athletes, and include:

Mental health literacy
Emotion regulation
Sleep improvement
Mental skills training
Coaching an esports athlete
Parenting an esports athlete

To facilitate dissemination and maximise impact, the psychoeducational intervention will be delivered via a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Each module of the MOOC will contain basic psychoeducational material, practical exercises, and a supporting 3–5-minute audio-visual clip introducing the module. Within the GG project, we will target a broad range of esports athletes, ranging from amateur and grassroots players to professional esports athletes. Additionally, educational modules will also be developed for esports coaches and parents, to aid them in promoting and supporting positive mental health in the esports athletes.