| Psychological researchers have documented that emotional state -- including anxiety has the potential to affect performance on psychological tests. Although there is a great deal of information published on the impact of anxiety on test performance, little is known about the relationship between elevated scores on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children second edition (MASC-2) and Trail Making Test scores. This study will examine the impact of self-reported measures of anxiety on a measure that is used to screen for executive functioning deficits in an adolescent population. Cases from an archival data set of outpatient neuropsychological test batteries from an adolescent population ages 9-14 were examined. All cases from the data set that included scores from the Trail Making Test and the MASC-2 were analyzed to determine whether a relationship between these two constructs could be identified. Multiple regression analyses did not identify a significant relationship between Trail Making Test and MASC-2 scores in an adolescent population. The study concludes that self-reported anxiety, as measured by the MASC-2, does not significantly impact Trail Making Test scores. |
