Sport Psychology Interventions in Esports: A Scoping Review | ERNC26

Sport Psychology Interventions in Esports: A Scoping Review Oliver Leis, Jeongeun Shin and Lara Wunsch (Leipzig University, Germany); Matthew Welsh and Benjamin T. Sharpe (University of Chichester, United Kingdom) Presented at the Esports Research Network Conference 2026, University of Tsukuba, Japan, 15 to 17 September 2026. Theme: Bridging Gaming Heritage and Esports Futures: Transformations, Traditions, and Tomorrow. ABSTRACT As esports professionalises, interest in psychological interventions for performance and wellbeing has grown, but the extent and nature of the published intervention research has been unclear. This scoping review maps how sport psychology interventions have been described, delivered and evaluated in esports: study populations, intervention strategies, delivery formats, assessment approaches and methodological gaps. The review followed PRISMA-ScR guidance and was pre-registered through the Open Science Framework, with searches in Web of Science, PubMed and EBSCOhost and no date restriction, plus reference list screening, citation searching and hand searching. Eligibility followed the Population, Concept and Context framework and included peer-reviewed English or German language studies describing psychological interventions in competitive esports. Seven studies published between 2022 and 2025 met the criteria, which shows how early a stage this literature is at. The evidence concentrates on League of Legends and Counter-Strike, with predominantly male samples, and the studies vary widely in design, delivery format, target outcomes and ecological validity: some test brief laboratory interventions such as arousal reappraisal or mindset strategies, others describe multi-session applied support. The review gives coaches, support staff and practitioners an overview of what has been studied, while making clear that the evidence base is too limited and heterogeneous to read as best practice. Future work needs clearer reporting, broader titles and populations, stronger outcome assessment and more longitudinal, mixed-method and ecologically valid designs. The full abstract appears in the ERNC26 Book of Abstracts. ABOUT The Esports Research Network is an international network of researchers working on esports across disciplines. ERNC26 was hosted by the University of Tsukuba, 15 to 17 September 2026, with over 160 participants from 30 countries and regions. Website: https://esportsresearch.net Conference: https://esportsresearch.net/ernc26 #ERNC26 #EsportsResearch #SportPsychology