Construction of the executive profile of university students with anxiety symptoms
Keywords:
Anxiety, Cognition, Executive functions, Neuropsychology, StudentsAbstract
Objective
The present study investigated the effect of anxiety symptoms on the executive functioning of students, in order to build a profile of the executive functioning of this population.
Method
Thirty-three college students diagnosed with anxiety were assessed using an executive functions battery.
Results
The results showed lower inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and focused attention for the group of students with high anxiety. In addition, this group showed lower motivation and capacity for both management and self-regulation.
Conclusion
This work contributed to the mapping of the different executive function factors in the effect of anxiety on cognition. The expansion of this understanding offers better possibilities for the development of interventions strategies and management of executive dysfunctions, with repercussions on the quality of life and school performance of these students
Downloads
References
Ajilchi, B., & Nejati, V. (2017). Executive functions in students with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, 8(3), 223-232. https://doi.org/10.18869/nirp.bcn.8.3.223
American Psychiatric Association. (2014). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). APA.
Campos, M. C., Silva, M. L., Florêncio, N. C., & Paula, J. J. (2016). Confiabilidade do Teste dos Cinco Dígitos em adultos brasileiros. Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria, 65, 135-139. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0047-20852016000200135&nrm=iso
Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2012). Coaching students with executive skills deficits. Guilford Press.
De Nardi, T., Sanvicente-Vieira, B., Prando, M., Stein, L. M., Fonseca, R. P., & Grassi-Oliveira, R. (2013). Tarefa N-back auditiva: desempenho entre diferentes grupos etários. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 26, 151-159. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-79722013000100016&nrm=iso
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64(1), 135-168. https://doi.org/10.1146/ annurev-psych-113011-143750
Fioravanti, A. C. M., Santos, L. F., Maissonette, S., Cruz, A. P. M., & Landeira-Fernandez, J. (2006). Avaliação da estrutura fatorial da Escala de Ansiedade-Traço do IDATE. Avaliação Psicológica, 5, 217-224. http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1677-04712006000200011&nrm=iso
Franklin, P., Tsujimoto, K. C., Lewis, M. E., Tekok-Kilic, A., & Frijters, J. C. (2018). Sex differences in self-regulatory executive functions are amplified by trait anxiety: the case of students at risk for academic failure. Personality and Individual Differences, 129, 131-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.03.019
Godoy, V. P., Mata, F. G. D., Conde, B. R., Souza, C. A. d. O. e., Martins, A. L. G., Mattos, P., Miranda, D. M., & Malloy-Diniz, L. F. (2015). Brazilian Portuguese transcultural adaptation of Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS). Archives of Clinical Psychiatry, 42, 147-152. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-60832015000600147&nrm=iso
January, J., Madhombiro, M., Chipamaunga, S., Ray, S., Chingono, A., & Abas, M. (2018). Prevalence of depression and anxiety among undergraduate university students in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol. Systematic Reviews, 7(1), 57-57. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-018-0723-8
Malloy-Diniz, L. F., Mattos, P., Leite, W. B., Abreu, N., Coutinho, G., Paula, J. J., Tavares, H., Vasconcelos, A. G., & Fuentes, D. (2010). Tradução e adaptação cultural da Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) para aplicação em adultos brasileiros. Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria, 59, 99-105. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0047-20852010000200004&nrm=iso
Marín Rueda, F. J., & Monteiro, R. M. (2013). Bateria Psicológica para Avaliação da Atenção (BPA): desempenho de diferentes faixas etárias. Psico-USF, 18, 99-108. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-82712013000100011&nrm=iso
Ministério da Saúde (Brasil). (2012). Resolução nº 466, de 12 de dezembro de 2012. Aprova as diretrizes e normas regulamentadoras de pesquisas envolvendo seres humanos; Revoga as (RES. 196/96); (RES. 303/00); (RES. 404/08). Diário Oficial da União, Seção 1. https://www.gov.br/conselho-nacional-de-saude/pt-br/atos-normativos/resolucoes/2012/resolucao-no-466.pdf/view
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “Frontal Lobe” tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49-100. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
Muller, J. L., Torquato, K. I., Manfro, G. G., & Trentini, C. M. (2015). Executive functions as a potential neurocognitive endophenotype in anxiety disorders: a systematic review considering DSM-IV and DSM-5 diagnostic criteria classification. Dementia & Neuropsychologia, 9, 285-294. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-57642015000300285&nrm=iso
O’Donnell, P. S. (2017). Executive Functioning Profiles and Test Anxiety in College Students. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 35(5), 447-459. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282916641554
Ora, A., Sahatcija, R., & Ferhataj, A. (2018). Executive function skills and their effect on the academic life of students. European Journal of Education, 1(1), 81-88. https://doi.org/10.26417/ejed.v1i1.p81-88
Paula, J. J., Costa, D. S., Moraes, E. N., Nicolato, R., & Malloy-Diniz, L. F. (2012). Contribuições da Torre de Londres para o exame do planejamento em idosos com Comprometimento Cognitivo Leve. Neuropsicologia Latinoamericana, 4, 16-21. http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2075-94792012000200002&nrm=iso
Silva, J., Starling-Alves, I., Moura, R., & Haase, V. G. (2017). Teste Stroop Victoria. In A. Julio-Costa, R. Moura, & V. Haase (Eds.), Compêndio de testes neuropsicológicos: atenção, funções executivas e memória (pp. 163-174). Hogrefe.
World Health Organization. (2017). Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders: Global Health Estimates. Geneva.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Carlos Eduardo Nórte, Lucas Machado Loureiro, Antonio Saint’Pierre Nunes, Helenice Charchat Fichman

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.







