Ricardo de la Vega

El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo describir los niveles psicofisiológicos y los síntomas de ansiedad en militares con funciones policiales antes y después de una intervención táctica-operativa simulada en situación de estrés. Participaron 10 militares del Ejército de Tierra español (38.33 años; 17.33 años de servicio) asistentes a unas jornadas celebradas en noviembre de 2023 en Madrid. Se realizaron mediciones pre y postintervención en escenarios reales. No se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en ninguna variable (p > 0.05). Sin embargo, se hallaron tamaños del efecto medio-grandes en lactato (r = 0.47) y glucosa (r = 0.48), y grande en fatiga perceptual-central (r = 0.50); las variables neuromusculares y endocrinas mostraron efectos pequeños-moderados (r = 0.16-0.35). Los perfiles psicológicos reflejaron ansiedad baja y estable, autoconfianza elevada y disminución del cortisol. La intervención evidencio esfuerzo físico intenso con adecuado manejo del estrés psicológico, sin cambios significativos en fuerza muscular y salto vertical.

Background: Free-word association (FWA) captures the most accessible lexical responses to a stimulus, providing a window into automatic cognitive representations of food categories that may differ across cultures and between sexes. Objectives: To examine whether the dominant cognitive associations evoked by the word “sweets” differ across three language groups (Hungarian, English, Spanish), whether they vary by sex, and whether they relate to body mass index (BMI) and self-reported eating disorder risk. Methods: A total of 1349 participants completed an online survey including a single FWA prompt. Responses were classified into 10 semantic categories and analyzed using chi-square tests. Effect sizes (Cramér’s V) were reported for all tests. Height and weight were converted to uniform metric units, and BMI was calculated. Results: The association profile differed significantly across language groups (χ²[18] = 210.05, p < 0.001, V = 0.28). Chocolate dominated Hungarian responses, while Baked goods/Desserts and Sugar/Candy dominated English, and Positive emotion and Baked goods/Desserts predominated among Spanish speakers. Sex differences were significant overall (χ²[9] = 43.72, p < 0.001, V = 0.18). BMI distributions differed markedly across nations (χ²[6] = 157.17, p < 0.001, V = 0.26), and sweets categories were significantly associated with eating disorder risk (χ²[27] = 48.04, p = 0.008, V = 0.11); however, this result should be interpreted with caution given the extreme skew toward the lowest-risk category [84.2%], with Negative/Health associations overrepresented among higher-risk participants. Conclusions: Cultural context plays a significant role in shaping automatic cognitive associations with sweet foods. The exploratory association between sweets categories and self-reported eating disorder risk warrants further investigation using validated instruments before any substantive conclusions can be drawn.

Background: Caffeine has become the psychostimulant with the highest use worldwide by different segments of the population. This is mainly due to the wide variety of benefits it offers in different contexts of use. It is available in various forms, with caffeine chewing gum recently generating great interest due to its characteristics and absorption time. Methods: A placebo-controlled study was conducted in which 20 healthy university students were exposed to three different conditions (single dose, partial dose, and placebo). The intervention consisted of a dual task in which heart rate, perceived exertion, and reaction time were monitored using the Stroop test and choice reaction time test while participants performed two blocks of cycloergometer exercise. Results: A t-test comparison between blocks showed differences in the Stroop test under all conditions, with the single dose having the best performance (Gr.A p < 0.001; Gr.B p < 0.029; Gr.C p < 0.009). The single dose group also showed favorable results for the HR/RPE ratio (p < 0.044) and an increase in the rate of perceived exertion (p < 0.006). No changes in reaction time were observed under any condition of the choice reaction time test. Conclusions: These results suggest that caffeine supplementation has positive effects on variables related to psychophysiological performance during a dual task. A single dose showed the best results in this study; however, longer intervention designs could be considered in the future to see the effect of partial doses of caffeine over time.

Background: Nutritional expectations have been shown to influence exercise performance via placebo and nocebo effects. The present study aimed to evaluate performance-enhancement expectations for coffee and energy drinks using the Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale. Methods: A total of 402 participants (48.5% male) with an average exercise history of 4.53 years, engaging in average physical activity 3.91 times per week, were included in the study. Data collection was conducted through the Qualtrics platform. Results: Participants exhibited significantly higher positive expectations for coffee compared to energy drinks (p = 0.002), whereas negative expectations were more pronounced for energy drinks than for coffee (p < 0.001). Males and individuals engaging in anaerobic exercise expressed more positive expectations for energy drinks than females and those participating in aerobic or mixed exercise regimens. Additionally, high-frequency exercisers (≥4 sessions per week) reported greater positive expectations for both beverages and fewer negative expectations for coffee than low-frequency exercisers (≤3 sessions per week). Correlational analyses revealed weak but significant associations between expectations and variables such as exercise history, frequency, intensity, and age. Conclusions: The findings suggest that coffee is perceived as a more effective performance enhancer and exhibits greater placebo-inducing potential than energy drinks, which may elicit stronger nocebo effects. These group-specific perceptions should be considered by trainers, coaches, and researchers when addressing placebo–nocebo mechanisms in the context of sports and exercise.

The aim of this study was to adapt the revised Toulouse-Piéron questionnaire to the arbitral context, analyzing its equivalence and convergence with the Arbitral Figures Test, created by David Boillos from the CTA, who is responsible for the sports psychology area. It was hypothesized that both tests would be equivalent in parameters such as number of possibilities, responses, correct answers, errors, omissions, and overall indices, and that there would be convergence in the Global Index of Attention and Perception (GIAP) and the Impulsivity Control Index (ICI). Additionally, sustained attention, processing speed, and decision-making were evaluated. The participants were 120 referees from the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The results partially confirmed the hypotheses, showing discrepancies in possibilities, responses, and correct answers between the tests. The Toulouse-Piéron Test yielded better results due to differences in stimuli. The GIAP and ICI differed but correlated adequately. No test correlated with the factors of the DMQ-II, the third complementary questionnaire administered during the test. Standardizing both tests and analyzing their validity with other tests of attention and perception is recommended for future research.

Motocross racing is a seldom-researched popular extreme sport. This field research aimed to investigate feeling states, perceived arousal, anxiety, and negative and positive affect in the anticipatory and recovery race periods and their relationship to expected and perceived performance. Twenty Motocross racers completed psychometric scales before and after a national championship race. Results revealed that objective performance was unrelated to psychological measures. Arousal, anxiety, and positive affect were lower after the race. Expected performance was unrelated to postrace measures. Still, perceived performance correlated significantly with the feeling state, anxiety, and positive affect after the race and the feeling state before the race. Furthermore, racers who performed as expected or better showed improved feeling states after the race compared with those who did worse than expected. The core affect of the latter group declined. This research on psychological states during Motocross races could motivate new initiatives for future studies.

The aim of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to examine the influence of exogenous factors related to nutritional and hydration strategies and environmental conditions, as modulators of fatigue, including factors associated with performance fatigability and perceived fatigability, in endurance tests lasting 45 min to 3 h. A search was carried out using four databases: PubMed, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, and EBSCO. A total of 5103 articles were screened, with 34 included in the meta-analysis. The review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022327203) and adhered to the PRISMA guidelines. The study quality was evaluated according to the PEDro score and assessed using Rosenthal’s fail-safe N. Carbohydrate (CHO) intake increased the time to exhaustion (p < 0.001) and decreased the heart rate (HR) during the test (p = 0.018). Carbohydrate with protein intake (CHO + PROT) increased lactate during the test (p = 0.039). With respect to hydration, dehydrated individuals showed a higher rate of perceived exertion (RPE) (p = 0.016) and had a higher body mass loss (p = 0.018). In hot conditions, athletes showed significant increases in RPE (p < 0.001), HR (p < 0.001), and skin temperature (p = 0.002), and a decrease in the temperature gradient (p < 0.001) after the test. No differences were found when athletes were subjected to altitude or cold conditions. In conclusion, the results revealed that exogenous factors, such as nutritional and hydration strategies, as well as environmental conditions, affected fatigue in endurance sports, including factors associated with performance fatigability and perceived fatigability.

Training in self-defense techniques is carried out regularly in both civil and military contexts. Self-defense techniques are put into practice in dangerous situations such us a threat or a physical attack, which can generate great stress on the individual. When carrying out this study, we wanted to analyze the influence that training in self-defense techniques has on the stress experienced by students in a dangerous situation or while being attacked. For this reason, I have compared the measure of stress experienced by 14 students during their performance, facing situations of physical threat that they perform in simulated self-defense practices, which are carried out in this training. The student’s stress was measured with the Determination Test (DT) of the Vienna Test System. These defense practices against simulated attack situations take place at two different moments within the training course, one at the beginning and another once the training course has finished; therefore, the students have completely learned the defense techniques. I carried out the first measure of stress in situations of physical threat, in the simulation at the beginning of the training course, when the students had not yet learned any self-defense techniques. The second measurement was performed 21 days later, when the students had received self-defense training. This came during the simulation of situations of physical threat that is developed once the teaching of these techniques has finished and occurs at the end of the training course. The results show that the stress tolerance threshold increases with training. The results obtained in the variables measured pre and post show a decrease in the "median reaction time to the stimuli" and an increase in the variables "number of stimuli answered" and "correct reactions". This demonstrates that these subjects achieved a stress tolerance threshold in stressful situations with the highest physical threat, which was at the end of this formation. Therefore, there is an important degree of difference in the stress resistance of the subjects before the simulation of the first day of training, and that of the last day once they had already learned the self-defense techniques. These findings could contribute to highlighting the usefulness of this type of training both in military units and in civilian entities, not only to improve technical knowledge of self-defense but also to promote a more adaptive stress response in this type of situation.

The aim of the present study was to develop an explanatory model of doping susceptibility among competitive track and field athletes using a logistic regression analysis accounting for some morality-related variables which were not explored in previous studies. A total of 281 Spanish elite track and field athletes (49.5% women, 48.4% have competed with the national team) completed an online survey measuring different constructs in relation to doping susceptibility. The final model demonstrated that nutritional supplements (OR: 2.39; CI: 1.16–4.90; p < 0.05), moral disengagement (OR: 2.17; CI: 1.48–3.19; p < 0.001), acceptance of gamesmanship (OR: 1.29; CI: 1.12–1.49; p < 0.001), and descriptive norms (OR: 1.21; CI: 1.04–1.41; p < 0.05) are the factors better explaining doping susceptibility. The profile of the athlete at risk of being more susceptible to doping is represented by someone who is aged under 20 years, believes that doping is present in his/her sport, has positive attitudes of acceptance of gamesmanship, is morally disconnected from doping, and frequently consumes nutritional supplements. It is recommended to deliver education related to the use of sports supplements and potential ill-effects of performance-enhancing substances or methods, and to engage athletes in doping prevention programs at an early age.