Comparison of response inhibition, cognitive flexibility and hypervigilance in adolescents with and without generalized anxiety disorder

The aim of this study was to compare response inhibition, cognitive flexibility and hypervigilance in adolescents with and without generalized anxiety disorder. The population consisted of the present study includes adolescents, aged ۱۶ to ۲۲ years without generalized anxiety disorder and with generalized anxiety disorder, who were referred to counseling and psychological service centers in Alborz province in ۲۰۲۲-۲۰۲۳. Among these, ۱۵۲ adolescents, ۷۴ of whom were adolescents without generalized anxiety disorder and ۷۸ of whom were adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder, were selected by Convenience Sampling. Data were collected using the General Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire, the Cognitive Flexibility Questionnaire, the Stroop Complex Word Test and the Continuous Performance Test and the data were analyzed by Multivariate analysis of variance through SPSS-۲۲. The results showed that the group with generalized anxiety disorder had lower scores for response inhibition and cognitive flexibility and higher scores for hypervigilance. The results suggest that response inhibition, cognitive flexibility and hypervigilance are different in adolescents with and without generalized anxiety disorder, and that these functions are impaired in people with generalized anxiety disorder.

Keywords:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder , response inhibition , cognitive flexibility and hypervigilance