Task-Based Attentional Control: The Role of Anxiety and Age

Attentional Control Theory (ACT) posits that anxiety impacts cognitive functioning through interference in working memory and processing efficiency, resulting in performance deficits in set-shifting and inhibition. Few studies have examined the effects of anxiety on set-shifting and inhibition in clinical samples or how these relationships might be affected by age. The current study tested whether increased age, elevated anxiety, and their interaction were associated with reduced performance on measures of set-shifting and inhibition.