The Impact of Cognitive, Physical, and Psychological Stressors on Subsequent Cognitive Performance

Objective To quantify the impact of performing challenging cognitive, physical and psychological tasks on subsequent cognitive performance, and whether differences in performance are predicted by psychological variables. Background Successful performance in many occupations depends on resilient cognition: the degree to which cognitive functions can withstand, or are resilient to, the effects of stress. Several studies have examined the effect of individual stressors on cognition; however, the capacity to compare different types of stress across studies is limited. Method Fifty-eight participants completed cognitive, physical, psychological and control interventions, immediately preceded, and followed, by a battery of cognitive tasks. Self-efficacy and cognitive appraisal were reported at baseline. Perceived stress was recorded post-intervention. Subjective workload was recorded for each cognitive battery and intervention. Results Cognitive performance was impaired by the cognitive, physical and psychological interventions, with the greatest effect following the cognitive intervention. The subjective workload reported for the post-intervention cognitive battery was higher following the cognitive and physical interventions. Neither self-efficacy, cognitive appraisal, perceived stress nor subjective workload of the intervention strongly predicted post-intervention performance. Conclusion Given the differences among interventions and cognitive domains, it appears that challenges to resilient cognition are broad and varied, and the mechanism(s) by which impairment occurs is complex. Application Considering the increase in subjective workload for the post-intervention cognitive battery, a combination of subjective and objective measures of cognitive performance monitoring should be considered.