{"id":{"repo_id":"ucf","oai_identifier":"oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-2084"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/ucf/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-2084","repository":{"repo_id":"ucf","name":"Central Florida","base_url":"https://stars.library.ucf.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"The Relationship Between Self-reported Chronic Stress And Divided Attention Performance","abstract":"While previous research has extensively examined the effect of acute stress on cognitive performance, relatively little research has explored the relationship between chronic stress and cognitive performance. The current study aimed to control for current state anxiety to better isolate more chronic stress, when examining the relationship with performance on divided attention tasks. Fifty-four university undergraduates, who self-reported a wide range of perceived chronic stress (10-item Perceived Stress Scale), completed the Trail-Making Test and a dual (auditory and visual) Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Hierarchical regressions were performed to explore cognitive predictors of chronic perceived stress. After covarying for state anxiety (state portion of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), the most statistically significant predictor (via stepwise entry) was the auditory omission error change score (dual minus single condition), which showed a medium effect size (r = .36). Results have practical safety implications, as the implementation of an efficient and inexpensive measure of self-reported stress may predict future job-related errors in high-stress professions that require divided attention.","abstract_html":"While previous research has extensively examined the effect of acute stress on cognitive performance, relatively little research has explored the relationship between chronic stress and cognitive performance. The current study aimed to control for current state anxiety to better isolate more chronic stress, when examining the relationship with performance on divided attention tasks. Fifty-four university undergraduates, who self-reported a wide range of perceived chronic stress (10-item Perceived Stress Scale), completed the Trail-Making Test and a dual (auditory and visual) Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Hierarchical regressions were performed to explore cognitive predictors of chronic perceived stress. After covarying for state anxiety (state portion of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), the most statistically significant predictor (via stepwise entry) was the auditory omission error change score (dual minus single condition), which showed a medium effect size (r = .36). Results have practical safety implications, as the implementation of an efficient and inexpensive measure of self-reported stress may predict future job-related errors in high-stress professions that require divided attention.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Petrac, Diane"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Bedwell, Jeffrey"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:09:42Z","subjects":["Stress","Divided Attention","College Students","Psychology"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["CFE0001509"],"render_values":[{"text":"CFE0001509","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1085","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Bedwell, Jeffrey"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Petrac, Diane"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Masters Thesis (Open Access)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Stress","Divided Attention","College Students","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["CFE0001509"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1085"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["<p>If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at <a href=\"mailto:STARS@ucf.edu\">STARS@ucf.edu</a></p>","Master of Science (M.S.)","College of Sciences","Psychology"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["While previous research has extensively examined the effect of acute stress on cognitive performance, relatively little research has explored the relationship between chronic stress and cognitive performance. The current study aimed to control for current state anxiety to better isolate more chronic stress, when examining the relationship with performance on divided attention tasks. Fifty-four university undergraduates, who self-reported a wide range of perceived chronic stress (10-item Perceived Stress Scale), completed the Trail-Making Test and a dual (auditory and visual) Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Hierarchical regressions were performed to explore cognitive predictors of chronic perceived stress. After covarying for state anxiety (state portion of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), the most statistically significant predictor (via stepwise entry) was the auditory omission error change score (dual minus single condition), which showed a medium effect size (r = .36). 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The current study aimed to control for current state anxiety to better isolate more chronic stress, when examining the relationship with performance on divided attention tasks. Fifty-four university undergraduates, who self-reported a wide range of perceived chronic stress (10-item Perceived Stress Scale), completed the Trail-Making Test and a dual (auditory and visual) Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Hierarchical regressions were performed to explore cognitive predictors of chronic perceived stress. After covarying for state anxiety (state portion of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), the most statistically significant predictor (via stepwise entry) was the auditory omission error change score (dual minus single condition), which showed a medium effect size (r = .36). Results have practical safety implications, as the implementation of an efficient and inexpensive measure of self-reported stress may predict future job-related errors in high-stress professions that require divided attention."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["CFE0001509"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1085"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Stress","Divided Attention","College Students","Psychology"],"dc:title":["The Relationship Between Self-reported Chronic Stress And Divided Attention Performance"],"dc:type":["Masters Thesis (Open Access)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:09:42Z"}