The Impact of a Continuous Performance Task on the Stress Response

The Impact of a Continuous Performance Task on the Stress Response

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the impact of taking a continuous performance attention test on the physiological stress response in college students. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does taking an attention test cause participants to have increases in heart rate, blood pressure, and sweat?
• Does taking an attention test cause participants to have a decrease in heart rate variability?
• Are there relationships between participants' levels of anxiety, perceived stress, and mindfulness to their physiological changes?

Participants will

• Answer questionnaires about anxiety, stress, and mindfulness
• Have baseline measurements taken for blood pressure, sweat, and heart rate variability
• Take the PEBL Continuous Performance Task (a 14 minute attention test) while having the measurements listed above taken again

The PEBL Continuous Performance Task is an example of a mental stressor which requires vigilance and effort. We hypothesize that a sympathetic nervous system response will be evident in comparing physiological parameters during the attention task versus the preceding resting baseline period. Exploratory analyses will assess relationships between psychological measures of anxiety, stress, and mindfulness with this physiological response and the number of errors on the attention test.

Inclusion Criteria:

• English language proficiency
• First year, first semester student enrolled in Students Together Empowering Peers course at the University of Redlands

Exclusion Criteria:

• severe mental health issues
• currently taking anti-anxiety medication