Examining professional e-sports players' game addiction, stress, and anxiety levels

The aim of this research is to examine the addiction, stress, and anxiety levels of professional e-sports players concerning their games and to investigate the differences according to the variables of gender and the types of games played. Data collection tools used include the Personal Information Form, Online Game Addiction Scale, Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. A total of 100 e-sports players, including 39 females and 61 males, participated voluntarily in the study. SPSS 22.0 software package was used for the statistical analysis of the data. T-test and ANOVA test were used to determine whether there is a significant difference in group comparisons. As a result of the analyses, no significant difference was found between professional e-sports players' addiction and anxiety levels concerning the gender variable (p>0,05). When the addiction, stress, and anxiety levels of e-sports players were examined according to the types of games they played, no statistically significant difference was found among them (p>0,05). However, it was found that players who play CS:GO have higher average anxiety levels and addiction levels compared to other players (avg. 2.56). This result may be influenced by the fact that CS:GO has been played for many years and is one of the most established games in e-sports (avg. 4.1). When the stress levels of professional e-sports players were examined according to their gender, a statistically significant difference was found in favor of female e-sports players (p<0,05). When the sub-dimensions of addiction, stress, and anxiety levels were examined, a statistically significant difference was observed in favor of female e-sports players in the stress sub-dimension (p<0,05). When the stress levels of the athletes were examined according to the type of game played, it was found that players who play PubG have higher average stress levels compared to those who play other games (avg. 2.39). The high average stress levels in PubG players can be attributed to the game's dynamic, where the main gameplay objective is the survival of the character. It was also observed that players who play DOTA have higher success levels compared to other players (avg. 4,42). These findings are important for understanding the impact of the e-sports industry on psychological health and for providing appropriate support and guidance to players.