Self-reported levels of anxiety do not predict neuropsychological performance in healthy men

It is widely believed that even mild to moderately severe levels of anxiety have a negative impact on neuropsychological performance. To test that possibility, we used scores from Spielberger's State and Trait Anxiety scales to predict performance on measures of attention, learning, memory, mental flexibility, and eye-hand coordination. Two samples of healthy young and middle-aged men were studied. Sample 1 consisted of 125 university students (M age = 20.37); Sample 2 consisted of 50 men recruited from the community (M age = 40.64). Results of multiple regression analyses revealed no significant associations in either sample, after controlling for age, education, and average alcohol consumption. These findings suggest an absence of relationship between self-reported symptoms of anxiety and neuropsychological function in healthy men.