Neurodiversity and mental health in esports

Van Ruysevelt, L, Mairesse, O, Van Heel, M, Trotter, MG, Watson, M, Pedraza-Ramirez, I, Bonilla, I, Swettenham, L ORCID: 0000-0002-7010-6543 and Kegelaers, J (2026) Neurodiversity and mental health in esports. Frontiers in Psychology, 17. ISSN 1664-1078

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Abstract

Introduction: Both neurodiversity and mental health have become increasingly prominent topics in esports. Nevertheless, little is known about the mental health of neurodivergent esports players specifically. Methods: The current study, therefore, examined whether neurotype-related differences in mental health outcomes (well-being, depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance) differed across self-reported competitive tiers through a secondary analysis of a large-scale, international, cross-sectional survey. Results: A total of 1,075 esports players across competitive tiers and game titles completed the survey, of whom 402 (37.39%) identified as neurodivergent. The analyses showed a main effect of neurotype for well-being and sleep disturbance, a main effect of competitive tier for all mental health outcomes, and an interaction effect for depression and anxiety. Simple comparisons showed that low-tier neurodivergent players exhibited the least favourable mental health profile, reporting lower well-being, higher depressive and anxiety symptoms, and greater sleep disturbance relative to their neurotypical counterparts. In contrast, high-tier neurodivergent players reported comparatively fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms than their high-tier neurotypical counterparts, despite continuing to report lower well-being and greater sleep disturbance. Discussion: Neurodivergence seems to be a salient dimension of esports participation. A substantial proportion of players in the current sample self-identified as neurodivergent, and competitive-tier based analyses indicated that the mental health profile associated with neurodivergence was not uniform across the competitive pathway. Future research should include longitudinal designs to clarify relationships between neurotype, mental health, and progression/drop-out across competitive levels, adopt more fine-grained approaches in describing and identifying neurodivergence, and capture lived experiences of neurodivergent players.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder); anxiety; autism (ASC); depression; neurodivergence; sleep disturbance; well-being; ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder); anxiety; autism (ASC); depression; neurodivergence; sleep disturbance; well-being; 52 Psychology; Mental Health; Depression; Behavioral and Social Science; Brain Disorders; Sleep Research; Mental Illness; Clinical Research; Mental health; 3 Good Health and Well Being; 1701 Psychology; 1702 Cognitive Sciences; 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences; 52 Psychology
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Publisher:	Frontiers Media SA
Date of acceptance:	14 May 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	14 July 2026
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2026 14:44
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2026 14:44
DOI or ID number:	10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1843950
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29014

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