INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 05 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 02:30 pm - 03:45 pm Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 05: Neuropsychiatry \| Addiction/Dependence \| Stress/Coping \| Emotional/Social Processes Final Abstract #42 A Calm Mind: Avoidant Coping, Anxiety, and Executive Decline in Ethnoracially Diverse Undergraduates Asia Hemphill, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Kylie Szymanski, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Maria Misiura, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Weston Rowe, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Mercedes Fyffe, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Naveen Thourani, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Cypress Kuhnel, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Jordan Pincus, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Stephanie Steinberg, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Chinkuli Munkombwe, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Holly Aleksonis, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Olivia Haller, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Davena Mgbeokwere, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Zach Salling, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Emily Weiss, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Dawn Aycock, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Rebecca Ellis, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Erin Tone, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Tricia King, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Vonetta Dotson, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Vince Calhoun, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States Category: Emotional and Social Processes Keyword 1: anxiety Keyword 2: diversity Keyword 3: executive functions Objective: Ethnoracially minoritized college students experience greater levels of anxiety and stress than Non-Hispanic White students while pursuing undergraduate degrees, which can impact academic success and well-being. Identifying predictors of anxiety and functional impairment can help improve outcomes for minoritized students. Avoidant coping mechanisms predict increased anxiety and worse cognitive performance particularly in working memory and executive function. Both executive function and working memory predict academic success and functional well-being. For this study, we investigated whether baseline anxiety predicted executive functions, including working memory and cognitive flexibility, over an eight-week period, and explored the relationship between avoidant coping and anxiety levels in ethnoracially diverse undergraduates. Participants and Methods: Undergraduate students (n = 48; 70.8% female, 29.2% male, M_age[SD] = 20.6 [2.66]) participated in the study, which was part of a larger eight-week intervention trial. Our sample was: 35.4% Black, 16.7% White, 14.6% Hispanic, 22.9% Asian, 8.3% Biracial (Black and White), and 2.1% Biracial (Asian and White). Students underwent cognitive testing, including the NIH Toolbox List Sorting Working Memory Test (LSWMT) and the Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS) Test, and completed the self-report PROMIS-Anxiety short form. Assessments were administered before and after the intervention, which involved assignment to one of four groups: exercise, online brain health modules, exercise + modules, and control. We collapsed across the intervention groups for this project. We calculated anxiety and cognitive performance change scores by subtracting post-intervention scores from baseline scores, and positive values indicate an improvement in symptoms or performance from baseline to post-intervention. Pre-intervention, students completed the Brief-COPE Questionnaire to evaluate coping strategies, including problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant coping. Multivariate linear models individually examined how changes in anxiety related to avoidant coping habits from the Brief-COPE, changes in LSWMT performance, and changes in DCCS scores. We included scores from the NIH Toolbox Oral Reading Recognition Test and age as covariates. Results: Paired sample t-tests confirmed significant reductions in anxiety overall, as well as improvements in working memory and cognitive flexibility over the course of the eight-week study. Despite the overall decrease in anxiety during the study, higher scores on the avoidant coping scale of the Brief-COPE at baseline predicted an increase in anxiety post-intervention. Furthermore, an increase in anxiety was significantly related to decline on the LSWMT and the DCCS. Conclusions: Avoidant coping was related to an increase in anxiety over the eight-week period in a group comprising mostly ethnoracially minoritized college students. Consistent with literature on anxiety and executive function, increased anxiety predicted a decline in working memory and cognitive flexibility. These findings emphasize the need for interventions to reduce anxiety in college students and bring awareness to maladaptive coping mechanisms, such as avoidant coping, to reduce feelings of anxiety and potentially improve executive functioning. The generalizability of our study is limited by our small sample size, but we expect to identify more robust relationships as data collection continues. Future studies will investigate the neurobiological underpinnings of both anxiety and executive function in this cohort.

Poster

02/15/2024
02:30 pm - 03:45 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 05: Neuropsychiatry | Addiction/Dependence | Stress/Coping | Emotional/Social Processes

Final Abstract #42

A Calm Mind: Avoidant Coping, Anxiety, and Executive Decline in Ethnoracially Diverse Undergraduates

Asia Hemphill, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Kylie Szymanski, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Maria Misiura, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Weston Rowe, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Mercedes Fyffe, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Naveen Thourani, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Cypress Kuhnel, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Jordan Pincus, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Stephanie Steinberg, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Chinkuli Munkombwe, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Holly Aleksonis, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Olivia Haller, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Davena Mgbeokwere, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Zach Salling, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Emily Weiss, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Dawn Aycock, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Rebecca Ellis, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Erin Tone, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Tricia King, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Vonetta Dotson, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
Vince Calhoun, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States

Category: Emotional and Social Processes

Keyword 1: anxiety
Keyword 2: diversity
Keyword 3: executive functions

Objective:

Ethnoracially minoritized college students experience greater levels of anxiety and stress than Non-Hispanic White students while pursuing undergraduate degrees, which can impact academic success and well-being. Identifying predictors of anxiety and functional impairment can help improve outcomes for minoritized students. Avoidant coping mechanisms predict increased anxiety and worse cognitive performance particularly in working memory and executive function. Both executive function and working memory predict academic success and functional well-being. For this study, we investigated whether baseline anxiety predicted executive functions, including working memory and cognitive flexibility, over an eight-week period, and explored the relationship between avoidant coping and anxiety levels in ethnoracially diverse undergraduates.

Participants and Methods:

Undergraduate students (n = 48; 70.8% female, 29.2% male, M_age[SD] = 20.6 [2.66]) participated in the study, which was part of a larger eight-week intervention trial. Our sample was: 35.4% Black, 16.7% White, 14.6% Hispanic, 22.9% Asian, 8.3% Biracial (Black and White), and 2.1% Biracial (Asian and White). Students underwent cognitive testing, including the NIH Toolbox List Sorting Working Memory Test (LSWMT) and the Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS) Test, and completed the self-report PROMIS-Anxiety short form. Assessments were administered before and after the intervention, which involved assignment to one of four groups: exercise, online brain health modules, exercise + modules, and control. We collapsed across the intervention groups for this project. We calculated anxiety and cognitive performance change scores by subtracting post-intervention scores from baseline scores, and positive values indicate an improvement in symptoms or performance from baseline to post-intervention. Pre-intervention, students completed the Brief-COPE Questionnaire to evaluate coping strategies, including problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant coping. Multivariate linear models individually examined how changes in anxiety related to avoidant coping habits from the Brief-COPE, changes in LSWMT performance, and changes in DCCS scores. We included scores from the NIH Toolbox Oral Reading Recognition Test and age as covariates.

Results:

Paired sample t-tests confirmed significant reductions in anxiety overall, as well as improvements in working memory and cognitive flexibility over the course of the eight-week study. Despite the overall decrease in anxiety during the study, higher scores on the avoidant coping scale of the Brief-COPE at baseline predicted an increase in anxiety post-intervention. Furthermore, an increase in anxiety was significantly related to decline on the LSWMT and the DCCS.

Conclusions:

Avoidant coping was related to an increase in anxiety over the eight-week period in a group comprising mostly ethnoracially minoritized college students. Consistent with literature on anxiety and executive function, increased anxiety predicted a decline in working memory and cognitive flexibility. These findings emphasize the need for interventions to reduce anxiety in college students and bring awareness to maladaptive coping mechanisms, such as avoidant coping, to reduce feelings of anxiety and potentially improve executive functioning. The generalizability of our study is limited by our small sample size, but we expect to identify more robust relationships as data collection continues. Future studies will investigate the neurobiological underpinnings of both anxiety and executive function in this cohort.