Objective:

To determine the association between anxiety levels and executive functions in tenth-grade students in Ecuador after the COVID-19 confinement.

Materials and Methods:

A cross-sectional study including 50 tenth-grade students from an Ecuadorian school. Anxiety levels were assessed using the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS-R2), and executive functions were measured with the Trail Making Test (TMT). Multivariate logistic regression models were used to explore the relationship between anxiety and executive performance.

Results:

Students with anxiety had a lower median grade point average (7) compared to those without anxiety (9). The presence of anxiety was associated with poorer executive performance as measured by TMT (OR = 1.28, 95% CI [1.08, 1.52], p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression models confirmed this association, showing that higher anxiety levels correlated with lower executive performance (OR = 1.25, 95% CI [1.02, 1.58], p = 0.044).

Conclusion:

The study highlights the significant relationship between anxiety and compromised executive functions in adolescents post-pandemic. The importance of mental health interventions in educational settings to support students' cognitive and emotional well-being is discussed.

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