Projects per year
Personal profile
Expertise
Jolan Kegelaers is an assistant professor in health psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His research focusses primarily on the promotion of mental health, with a specific interest in sport and other performance domains. He has acquired and coordinated several large national and international research projects aimed at understanding and promoting mental health within different high-performance contexts. Among others, these include the European projects ‘Dual Careers for Mental Health’ (DC4MH), MENTiS, and the ongoing EUPHORIA project. Currently he is also leading the ‘Good Game’ Erasmus+ project, focused on mental health promotion specifically in esports. In addition to his work in high-performance environments, Jolan is also leading the SMARTS project, focused on co-designing a novel sports-based mental health promotion intervention targeted at vulnerable youth. In addition to his research endeavors, he is currently also active as the performance psychologist for the Flemish Judo federation.
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
EUPOM165: Erasmus+ KeyAction2: #ENHANCE - The social side of eSports
Aerenhouts, D., Zinzen, E., Sarens, M., Verschueren, J. & Kegelaers, J.
1/12/24 → 30/11/27
Project: Applied
-
NSIS2: PRISM network: Psychology, Research and Innovations for mental health
Baetens, I., Van Heel, M., Theuns, P., Baetens, K., Kegelaers, J., Mairesse, O., Deroost, N., Dierckx, E., Rossi, G., Crunelle, C., Vantilborgh, T. & Lemeire, J.
1/11/24 → 31/10/29
Project: Fundamental
-
EUPOM162: Erasmus+ KeyAction2: EDUcation for Dual Careers of football talents
De Brandt, K., Wylleman, P., Kegelaers, J. & Smans, L.
1/11/24 → 30/04/27
Project: Applied
-
EUPOM148: Erasmus+ Key Action2 : GG : The Good Game project: Promoting mental health in esports
Kegelaers, J., Van Heel, M., Mairesse, O., Wylleman, P. & Verschueren, J.
1/01/24 → 31/12/26
Project: Applied
-
De rol van de entourage in de mentale gezondheid van topsporters
Kegelaers, J., Wylleman, P., Spolverato, L., Van Ruysevelt, L. & De Brandt, K., 2025, In: Gezond Sporten. 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
-
European Report: Mental health outcomes in esports players
Kegelaers, J., Mairesse, O., Van Heel, M., Wylleman, P., Verschueren, J. & Van Ruysevelt, L., Mar 2025, 32 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
-
Measuring and Increasing Athletes’ Mental Health Literacy (MHL): Cross-Cultural Validation of MHL Questionnaire and Evaluation of MHL Intervention Implementation
Usenik, J., Grobbelaar, H., De Brandt, K. & Kegelaers, J., 15 Jul 2025, University of Maribor Press. 264 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
The implementation and effectiveness of sports-based mental health programmes in schools: A systematic review
Kegelaers, J., Van Hove, L., Van Heel, M. & Baetens, I., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
The mental health status of esports athletes
Kegelaers, J., Mairesse, O., Van Ruysevelt, L., Trotter, M. G., Watson, M., Pedraza-Ramirez, I., Bonilla, I., Davis, P., Ragnarsson, J. & Van Heel, M., 2025, In: Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports. 3, 1, p. 1-10 10 p., jege.2025-0017.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Datasets
-
-
Planned disruptions qualitative data
Kegelaers, J. (Creator), VUB Institutional Data Repository, 28 Feb 2025
Dataset
-
JK_SMARTS_Review
Baetens, I. (Creator), Kegelaers, J. (Creator), Van Hove, L. (Creator) & Van Heel, M. (Creator), VUB Institutional Data Repository, 25 Nov 2025
Dataset
Prizes
-
1st prize FEPSAC/Elsevier awards for Young Researchers in Sport and Exercise Psychology
Kegelaers, Jolan (Recipient), 29 Nov 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
3rd place Hogeschool van Amsterdam Onderzoek van het jaar 2021
Kegelaers, Jolan (Recipient) & Oudejans, Raoul R. D. (Recipient), 9 Feb 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
-
Strengthening Mental health And Resilience Through Schools (SMARTS)
Martijn Van Heel (Speaker), Jolan Kegelaers (Contributor), Imke Baetens (Contributor), Veerle Soyez (Contributor) & Lisa Van Hove (Contributor)
6 Jun 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Talk or presentation at a conference
-
Het gebruik van sport als middel en context om mentale gezondheid van jongeren te bevorderen
Jolan Kegelaers (Speaker)
18 Sept 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Talk or presentation at a conference
-
University of Melbourne (External organisation)
Jolan Kegelaers (Chair)
10 Jul 2025 → …Activity: Membership › Member of PhD committee
-
Autonomous University of Barcelona (External organisation)
Jolan Kegelaers (Reviewer)
11 Sept 2024Activity: Membership › Member of PhD committee
-
Research visit at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Laura Spolverato (Presenter), Koen De Brandt (Presenter) & Jolan Kegelaers (Lecturer)
16 Apr 2024 → 18 Apr 2024Activity: Other › Research and Teaching at External Organisation
Press/Media
-
Expert aan het woord: Jolan Kegelaers over topsportprestaties en mentaal welzijn
23/04/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
-
‘Olympic Minds Unlocked’: de nieuwe Team Belgium-podcast
23/04/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
-
Resilience & pressure training w/ Dr. Jolan Kegelaers
25/03/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
-
Wonderkind, chronisch overwerkt en al vijf jaar niet meer bij ons: ‘Dood van Avicii deed me inzien hoe toxisch dit wereldje kan zijn’
20/04/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
-
Sportpsycholoog Jolan Kegelaers: “De meeste mentale problemen treden op aan het einde van de sportcarrière”
9/12/22
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
Thesis
-
A coach-centered exploration of resilience development in talented and elite athletes.
Author: Kegelaers, J. J., 29 May 2019Supervisor: Wylleman, P. (Promotor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis
-
Biofeedback en aanpassingsvermogen bij een verspringer: Een case studie
Author: Van Steenwinckel, M., Wylleman, P. & Kegelaers, J. J., 30 Jan 2017Student thesis: Master's Thesis
-
De impact van blessures op high-performance voetballers: holistisch bekeken
Author: De Block, L., Wylleman, P. & Kegelaers, J., 2020Student thesis: Master's Thesis
-
De invloed van grit en zelfregulatie op stress-gerelateerde responsen bij competitiesporters
Author: Vandenplas, C. S. & Kegelaers, J., 2023Student thesis: Master's Thesis
-
De relatie tussen zelfregulatie, coping en resilience met het oog op een optimale sportprestatie
Author: Tas, M., Wylleman, P. & Kegelaers, J., 27 Jun 2016Student thesis: Master's Thesis