ABSTRACT Background Esports practitioners are frequently exposed to prolonged screen time and sustained cognitive–motor demands, which may influence wake‐time oral behaviours. Evidence on awake bruxism (AB) in this population remains scarce. Objective To assess the prevalence of awake bruxism (AB) and its associations with sociodemographic, behavioural, clinical and psychological factors, particularly anxiety and nomophobia, among esports practitioners. Methods In this cross‐sectional study, 239 esports players completed a structured online questionnaire covering sociodemographic/lifestyle factors, gaming‐related characteristics, clinical conditions, self‐reported sleep quality, temporomandibular pain screening, anxiety (GAD‐7) and nomophobia. Awake bruxism behaviours were assessed using the Oral Behaviours Checklist (OBC). Multivariable ordinal logistic regression (proportional odds model) was used to evaluate factors associated with AB frequency (never < sometimes < frequent). Additionally, separate ordinal models were fitted for each AB behaviour (grinding, clenching, light tooth contact and mandibular bracing) using the same frequency structure. Results Overall, 89.1% of participants reported AB‐related behaviours, with light tooth contact being the most frequent. In the multivariable model, higher nomophobia scores were independently associated with higher AB frequency categories (OR = 1.031; 95% CI = 1.015–1.050; p < 0.001). In behaviour‐specific models, nomophobia consistently emerged as a significant predictor across individual AB behaviours. Anxiety and nomophobia were strongly correlated ( ρ = 0.650; p < 0.001). Conclusion Awake bruxism‐related behaviours were highly prevalent among esports practitioners and nomophobia was consistently associated with higher AB frequency and specific AB manifestations. These findings highlight the relevance of psychobehavioral factors in the expression of AB in gamers.
Quadras et al. (Fri,) studied this question.