Verbal Fluency and State Anxiety in Military Conscripts
Author Information
Author(s): Larsson Magnus R, Michel Per-Olof, Bäckström Martin, Johanson Aki
Primary Institution: Department of Psychology, Lund University
Hypothesis
Can baseline executive control capacity predict state anxiety during a life-threatening situation?
Conclusion
The study suggests that individual differences in executive control capacity may be related to emotion regulation ability during acute stressor exposure.
Supporting Evidence
- State anxiety significantly increased before the grenade exercise.
- More words produced on the fluency task predicted lower state anxiety.
- More perseverations on the fluency task predicted higher state anxiety.
Takeaway
If you can think of words quickly when you're calm, you might feel less anxious when things get scary.
Methodology
Participants were assessed on a verbal fluency task and state anxiety before and after a live grenade exercise.
Potential Biases
Potential mood effects on performance were not fully controlled.
Limitations
The study had a small sample size and did not include female participants, which limits generalizability.
Participant Demographics
All participants were male, right-handed, and had completed 12 years of education.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p < .05
Statistical Significance
p < .01
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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