Poor socioeconomic state, stress, stunting and fatness are negatively associated with cognitive performance of female adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: The brain undergoes dynamic structural and maturational changes during adolescence, producing significant changes in cognition and behaviour. Cognitive performance (CP) of an individual is influenced by many factors, nutritional, psychosocial and genetic. Objectives: To determine the influence of nutritional and psychosocial factors on CP of early female adolescents in Sri Lanka. Method: Two hundred and eighteen female adolescents, 11-14 years of age, were administered neurocognitive test batteries comprising tests of nonverbal intelligence, subtests of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and two computer based executive function tests to assess CP. Height for age Z-score (HAZ), weight for age Z-score (WAZ) and BMI for age Z-score (BAZ) were calculated to measure nutritional status. Adolescent stress questionnaire (ASQ) was used to assess stress.