Executive Functions and Their Relation to Academic Performance in University Students / Funciones ejecutivas y su relación con el rendimiento académico en estudiantes universitarios

Academic performance, dropout rates, and low graduation rates constitute an area of concern in Latin American universities that has been the topic of various studies. Certain researchers suggest that some differences in academic performance could arise from interindividual variations in self-regulation mechanisms such as executive functions. Therefore, this study aimed to contribute to the investigation of the relationships between university performance and executive functions, specifically working memory, inhibition, and shifting. The study involved 196 students who completed the Reading Span Task, the Five Digits Test, and the Finger Task. Working memory, inhibition, and shifting exhibited a weak significant relationship with performance. Furthermore, additionally to age, socioeconomic status, and student work hours, inhibition and shifting accounted for 38% of the variance in academic performance. The findings provide a contribution to the understanding of this topic and to the discussion of previous contradictory findings. (AU)

El rendimiento académico universitario, el rezago y las bajas tasas de egreso suponen un área de preocupación en las universidades latinoamericanas que ha sido objeto de diferentes investigaciones. Algunos investigadores sugieren que determinadas diferencias en dicho rendimiento podrían surgir de diferencias interindividuales en distintos mecanismos de autorregulación, como las funciones ejecutivas. Por ello, este trabajo se propuso contribuir al estudio de las relaciones entre el rendimiento universitario y las funciones ejecutivas, específicamente la memoria de trabajo, la inhibición y la flexibilidad cognitiva. Se trabajó con 196 estudiantes que completaron la Tarea de Amplitud de Lectura, el Test de Cinco Dígitos y la Tarea de los Dedos. La memoria de trabajo, la inhibición y la flexibilidad presentaron una relación significativa baja con el rendimiento. Además, junto con edad, nivel socioeconómico y horas que trabaja el estudiante, la inhibición y la flexibilidad cognitiva, permitieron explicar el 38% de la varianza del rendimiento. Los resultados suponen un aporte al conocimiento de esta temática y a la discusión de los hallazgos contradictorios previos. (AU)

Intolerance of COVID-19-related uncertainty and depressive and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic: A longitudinal study in Argentina.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is a novel, unprecedented situation that has created considerable uncertainty due in part to the unpredictability of the future situation. Intolerance of Uncertainty is the inability to withstand negative uncertain situations, and predisposes people to overestimate threats and to develop psychopathological symptoms. The aim of this study was to longitudinally analyze the relationship between intolerance of COVID-19-related uncertainty and anxiety and depression symptoms. A non-probabilistic online snowball sampling method was used. For the study, 1230 Argentine adults (216 men; 1005 women; 9 other genders; mean age = 41.62; SD = 13.81) were recruited to complete three open-access surveys at three different time points: (1) between May 6 and June 1, 2020, (2) between August 8 and 13, 2020, and (3) between April 17 and 23, 2021. The results suggest that anxiety and depressive symptoms increase over time, and that intolerance of uncertainty is a predictor of this variability even up to eleven months after the initial assessment. Gender- and age- related effects were also observed (women and young people reported more psychopathological symptoms). The findings suggest the importance of intolerance of uncertainty for mental health and the importance of this type of study for understanding the psychological impact of the pandemic.