The effect of negative affect on cognition: Anxiety, not anger, impairs executive function.

Abstract

It is often assumed that negative affect impairs the executive functions that underlie our ability to control and focus our thoughts. However, support for this claim has been mixed. Recent work has suggested that different negative affective states like anxiety and anger may reflect physiologically separable states with distinct effects on cognition. However, the effects of these two affective states on executive function have never been assessed. As such, we induced anxiety or anger in participants and examined the effects on executive function. We found that anger did not impair executive function relative to a neutral mood, whereas anxiety did. In addition, self-reports of induced anxiety, but not anger, predicted impairments in executive function. These results support functional models of affect and cognition, and highlight the need to consider differences between anxiety and anger when investigating the influence of negative affect on fundamental cognitive processes such as memory and executive function.

Facilitating donor compliance with strategies to prevent vasovagal reactions: comparison of web‐based and in‐center approaches

“…These findings align with prior research that found that donors rely heavily on collection staff to guide VVR prevention behaviors . Why this is remains unknown—donors may consider collection staff as experts and therefore as persuasive, may pay greater attention to the content when reiterated as part of an interaction, or may simply prefer the perceived personalization or donor centeredness of the interaction . Given the low costs involved in implementing this form of in‐center intervention, future research should focus on understanding how collection staff currently educate donors regarding VVR prevention to optimize the use of techniques that minimize donors' risk of experiencing a VVR.…”

“…Instructions delivered on site may seem particularly relevant to donors and garner maximum attention. However, anxiety experienced at the donor center may impair donors' cognitive function and their ability to comprehend the message . This may be avoided by providing instructions off site; however, if received before presenting to donate, donors may perceive the instructions as less relevant and less worthy of attention.…”

Relationship Between Psychological Distress and Cognitive Function Differs as a Function of Obesity Status in Inpatient Heart Failure

“…In healthy individuals, anxiety and depression are also independently associated with poorer cognitive function (McDermott and Ebmeier, 2009;Rock et al, 2014;Snyder et al, 2015;Shields et al, 2016). Psychological distress is quite prevalent in HF, with depression affecting up to 60% of patients (Yohannes et al, 2010) and up to 55% of patients demonstrating elevated anxiety (Easton et al, 2016).…”

Trajectory of 10-Year Neurocognitive Functioning After Moderate–Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Early Associations and Clinical Application

“…These same authors gave support to the theory that cognitive difficulties could give rise to elevated anxiety after TBI . Other publications have demonstrated that emotional variables may be accurate in predicting cognitive outcomes (Grauwmeijer et al, 2018;Shields, Moons, Tewell, & Yonelinas, 2016). Another study compared cognitive functioning and emotional distress in patients with mild-severe TBI at 10 years and found that the group with a worse functional outcome (GOSE) performed more poorly on cognitive measures (information processing speed, attention, Memory, and Executive function) and showed higher levels of anxiety (Ponsford et al, 2008).…”