The Relationship Between Social Discomfort and Executive Functioning
Abstract
Introversion and behavioral inhibition are stable individual characteristics associated with an over aroused central nervous system and have been associated with relative executive functioning deficits. The specific relationship between non-clinical levels of social anxiety and executive functioning has yet to be evaluated. The present study evaluated these factors in 29 high-functioning, psychiatrically normal volunteers using three tests of both simple and complex executive functioning. Using a multivariate regression analysis with ethnicity, education, intelligence and simple task performance controlled for, higher levels of self-reported social discomfort were associated with poorer scores on Part B of the Trail Making Test and the Color-Word task of the Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test. No such relationship was found on the Digit Span task. These results have implications for further understanding of shared neurobiological mechanisms underlying social discomfort and executive functioning.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA442214
Entities
People
- John R. Ashburn Jr.
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences