As if the problems related to the health emergency and the consequent inconvenience even for those who have suffered situations of isolation and detachment from social life were not enough, a new academic study has stated that the game of fantasy football it can lead to mental health risks, with more significant worsening based on time spent playing.
The English newspaper reports it The Guardian, explaining that in what can be defined as unique, a research conducted by Nottingham Trent University and published in the journal Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, examined the mental health and well-being of fantasy football players, a very popular activity in England, but equally popular in our country.
A survey was conducted on 1,995 people who recorded their involvement with the game – time spent playing, researching and thinking about fantasy football – and the effect it had on their mood, social adaptation and habits. While about a quarter of respondents (24.6%) said that the game caused them a slight drop in mood, that number nearly doubled among users who felt much more touched by the results.
A slightly or much worse mood due to fantasy football was reported by 44% of those who have spent over 45 minutes playing, over 60 minutes researching, and over 120 minutes thinking about the popular game every day. Of the interviewees 20.8% he spent more than 45 minutes a day playing; the 34% of users more involved said the game caused them at least some mild anxiety (compared to 20% of all players) e 37% said which had a major impact on their lives, causing what the researchers called “functional deficit”.
Fantasy football is popular around the world, with poll respondents coming from 96 countries. The researchers found that social media engagement added a “myriad of complex social cognitive and psychological processes that can negatively impact mental health“. They also made a comparison with video games, noting that in fantasy football there is a relative lack of control over results, additional risk factor for mental health.
«Fantasy football is impossible for the vast majority of those who play it to win and it is possible that the more a person is invested, the more he will be negatively affected when he loses. Our study highlights the general positives that the game can bring, but it also warns of potential negatives and justifies the idea that more should be done to monitor the amount of time devoted to this game»Commented the doctor Luke Wilkins, the principal investigator in the study and an expert in sports and exercise psychology at Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology.
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