Mental Health, Addictions and Biomarkers in High Athletes Performance

Sport is a privileged area to promote socialization and health values, such as companionship; a healthy lifestyle; cooperation to achieve common goals, and justice, rejecting unjustified advantages in competition. The concept of fair play is on which the development of those values pivots. From a holistic perspective, it is possible to define fair play, not only as a way to participate but also as a way of projecting people in life with values, assuming a set of behaviors that enhance a healthy and respectful sporting experience with opponents, the companions, the spectators, the referees and all the agents that take part in the sport practice. Since 2018, joint actions have been carried out with the Villarreal de Fútbol Club, within the framework of the ENDAVANT agreement. Within these actions, it is proposed to develop different lines of research on sport and health. Within these lines, one of special relevance is that related to the risk of consumption of illicit substances and / or behavioral addictions, in elite athletes, since they are subjected to intense training days and stress situations derived from the demands of performance of professional competitive activity. On the other hand, recently published behavioral studies show that athletes who practice non-contact sports have a greater capacity to identify and assess emotions than athletes who practice contact sports and than those who practice contact sports show higher levels of physical aggression or verbal, and hostility or anger, than athletes who practice individual and non-contact sports.