Cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress and academic achievement

Annie T Ginty*, Alexandra Tyra, Danielle Young, Ryan Brindle, Susanne de Rooij, Sarah Williams

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress have been associated with cognitive function. However, previous work has assessed cardiovascular reactions and cognitive function in the laboratory at the same time. The present study examined the association between cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress in the laboratory and academic performance in final year high school students. Heart rate, blood pressure, stroke volume, and cardiac output reactions to an acute psychological stress task were measured in 131 participants during their final year of high school. Performance on high school A-levels were obtained the following year. Higher heart rate and cardiac output reactivity were associated with better A-level performance. These associations were still statistically significant after adjusting for a wide range of potentially confounding variables. The present results are consistent with a body of literature suggesting that higher heart rate reactions to acute psychological stress are associated with better cognitive performance across a variety of domains.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere14064
Number of pages14
JournalPsychophysiology
Volume59
Issue number10
Early online date30 Mar 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2022

Keywords

  • acute psychological stress
  • cardiovascular reactivity
  • cognitive function

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