IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i6p2893-d515524.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Experience, Perceived Match Importance, and Anxiety on Cortisol Response in an Official Esports Competition

Author

Listed:
  • Guillermo Mendoza

    (Departamento de Fisiología Humana, Histiología, Anatomía Patológica, y Educación Física y Deportiva, Universidad de Málaga, 29010 Málaga, Spain)

  • Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez

    (Faculty of Sports Science, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Madrid, Spain
    Grupo de Investigación en Cultura, Educación y Sociedad, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla 080002, Colombia)

  • José Ramón Alvero-Cruz

    (Departamento de Fisiología Humana, Histiología, Anatomía Patológica, y Educación Física y Deportiva, Universidad de Málaga, 29010 Málaga, Spain)

  • Iván Rivilla

    (Departamento de Didáctica de la Educación Física y Salud, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, 26002 Logroño, Spain)

  • Jerónimo García-Romero

    (Departamento de Fisiología Humana, Histiología, Anatomía Patológica, y Educación Física y Deportiva, Universidad de Málaga, 29010 Málaga, Spain)

  • Manuel Fernández-Navas

    (Departamento de Didáctica y Organización Escolar, Universidad de Málaga, 29010 Málaga, Spain)

  • Margarita Carrillo de Albornoz-Gil

    (Departamento de Fisiología Humana, Histiología, Anatomía Patológica, y Educación Física y Deportiva, Universidad de Málaga, 29010 Málaga, Spain)

  • Manuel Jiménez

    (Departamento de Didáctica de la Educación Física y Salud, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, 26002 Logroño, Spain)

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to analyse the neuroendocrine stress response, psychological anxiety response, and perceived match importance (PMI) between expert and non-expert control gamers in an official competitive context. We analyzed, in 25 expert esports players and 20 control participants, modifications in their somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety, self-confidence, PMI, and cortisol in a League of Legends competition. We found how expert esports players presented higher cortisol concentrations (Z = 155.5; p = 0.03; Cohen’s d = −0.66), cognitive anxiety (Z = 99.5; p = 0.001), and PMI (Z = 50.5; p < 0.001) before the competition than non-experts participants. We found a greater statistical weight in the cognitive variables than in the physiological ones. The results obtained suggest that real competitive context and player’s expertise were factors associated with an anticipatory stress response. The PMI proved to be a differentiating variable between both groups, highlighting the necessity to include subjective variables that contrast objective measurements.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillermo Mendoza & Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez & José Ramón Alvero-Cruz & Iván Rivilla & Jerónimo García-Romero & Manuel Fernández-Navas & Margarita Carrillo de Albornoz-Gil & Manuel Jiménez, 2021. "The Role of Experience, Perceived Match Importance, and Anxiety on Cortisol Response in an Official Esports Competition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-8, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2893-:d:515524
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2893/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2893/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guillermo Mendoza & Manuel Jiménez & Jerónimo García-Romero & Jorge García-Bastida & Iván Rivilla & Margarita Carrillo de Albornoz-Gil & Francisco Javier Baron-Lopez & Javier Benítez-Porres & José Ram, 2020. "Challenging the Top Player: A Preliminary Study on Testosterone Response to An Official Chess Tournament," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-11, February.
    2. Manuel Jiménez & José Ramón Alvero-Cruz & Juan Solla & Jorge García-Bastida & Virginia García-Coll & Iván Rivilla & Enrique Ruiz & Jerónimo García-Romero & Elvis A. Carnero & Vicente Javier Clemente-S, 2020. "Competition Seriousness and Competition Level Modulate Testosterone and Cortisol Responses in Soccer Players," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-9, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Diogo Tereso & Rui Paulo & João Petrica & Pedro Duarte-Mendes & José M. Gamonales & Sergio J. Ibáñez, 2021. "Assessment of Body Composition, Lower Limbs Power, and Anaerobic Power of Senior Soccer Players in Portugal: Differences According to the Competitive Level," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-11, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2893-:d:515524. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.