The impact of different types of academic stress on subcomponents of executive function in high school students of different grades

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.0018

Abstract

Abstract:

This study investigated the roles of four dimensions of academic stress in various executive function components among 985 high school students from grades 10 to 12 using correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. The results revealed that as students progressed through the high school grades, the negative predictive effects of parental stress and teacher stress on various executive function components gradually increased, while the negative predictive effect of social stress gradually decreased. In contrast, self-imposed stress exhibited a positive predictive effect on interference inhibition, response inhibition, and attention switching abilities among high school students, and this positive effect strengthened with advancing grades. These findings indicate that different types of academic stress have varying predictive effects on executive function components, and these effects change as students progress through high school. The conclusions drawn from this study have important implications for educators in effectively developing strategies to cope with academic stress among high school students.

Key words: executive function, academic stress, high school students, structural equation modeling

MA Chao, WANG Yanyun, FU Junjun, ZHAO Xin. (2025). The impact of different types of academic stress on subcomponents of executive function in high school students of different grades. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 57(1), 18-35.

Figures/Tables 11

References 101

[1]	Alexander J. K., Hillier A., Smith R. M., Tivarus M. E., & Beversdorf D. Q. (2007). Beta-adrenergic modulation of cognitive flexibility during stress. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19(3), 468-478. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.3.468 pmid: 17335395
[2]	Anderson V., Northam E., & Wrennall J. (2018). Developmental neuropsychology: A clinical approach. Routledge.
[3]	Arsenio W. F., & Loria S. (2014). Coping with negative emotions: Connections with adolescents’ academic performance and stress. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 175(1-2), 76-90.
[4]	Bandura A. (1986). The explanatory and predictive scope of self-efficacy theory. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 4(3), 359-373.
[5]	Bandura A. (1989). Regulation of cognitive processes through perceived self-efficacy. Developmental Psychology, 25(5), 729-735.
[6]	Bantin T., Stevens S., Gerlach A. L., & Hermann C. (2016). What does the facial dot-probe task tell us about attentional processes in social anxiety? A systematic review. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 50, 40-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2015.04.009 pmid: 26042381
[7]	Beilock S. L., & Carr T. H. (2005). When high-powered people fail: Working memory and “choking under pressure” in math. Psychological Science, 16(2), 101-105. pmid: 15686575
[8]	Beilock S. L., Kulp C. A., Holt L. E., & Carr T. H. (2004). More on the fragility of performance: Choking under pressure in mathematical problem solving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133(4), 584-600.
[9]	Bernier A., Carlson S. M., & Whipple N. (2010). From external regulation to self‐regulation: Early parenting precursors of young children’s executive functioning. Child Development, 81(1), 326-339. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01397.x pmid: 20331670
[10]	Blair C. (2010). Stress and the Development of Self- Regulation in Context. Child Development Perspectives, 43(3), 181-188.
[11]	Bronfenbrenner U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22(6), 723-742.
[12]	Cumming M. M., Smith S. W., & O'Brien K. (2019). Perceived stress, executive function, perceived stress regulation, and behavioral outcomes of adolescents with and without significant behavior problems. Psychology in the Schools, 56(9), 1359-1380.
[13]	De Raedt R., & Hooley J. M. (2016). The role of expectancy and proactive control in stress regulation: A neurocognitive framework for regulation expectation. Clinical Psychology Review, 45, 45-55. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2016.03.005 pmid: 27064551
[14]	Deb S., Strodl E., & Sun H. (2015). Academic stress, parental pressure, anxiety and mental health among Indian high school students. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 5(1), 26-34.
[15]	Diamond A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135-168. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750 pmid: 23020641
[16]	Dierolf A. M., Fechtner J., Böhnke R., Wolf O. T., & Naumann E. (2017). Influence of acute stress on response inhibition in healthy men: An ERP study. Psychophysiology, 54(5), 684-695. doi: 10.1111/psyp.12826 pmid: 28168718
[17]	Dierolf A. M., Schoofs D., Hessas E. M., Falkenstein M., Otto T., Paul M.,... Wolf O. T. (2018). Good to be stressed? Improved response inhibition and error processing after acute stress in young and older men. Neuropsychologia, 119, 434-447. doi: S0028-3932(18)30517-7 pmid: 30171874
[18]	Duckworth A. L., & Seligman M. E. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16(12), 939-944. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01641.x pmid: 16313657
[19]	Eccles J. S., & Roeser R. W. (2011). Schools as developmental contexts during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21(1), 225-241.
[20]	Eysenck M. W., & Derakshan N. (2011). New perspectives in attentional control theory. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(7), 955-960.
[21]	Fujii Y., Kitagawa N., Shimizu Y., Mitsui N., Toyomaki A., Hashimoto N.,... Kusumi I. (2013). Severity of generalized social anxiety disorder correlates with low executive functioning. Neuroscience Letters, 543, 42-46. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2013.02.059 pmid: 23562516
[22]	Gagnon S. A., & Wagner A. D. (2016). Acute stress and episodic memory retrieval:neurobiological mechanisms and behavioral consequences. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1369(1), 55-75.
[23]	Gao H., Wang X., Huang M., & Qi M. (2022). Chronic academic stress facilitates response inhibition: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 22(3), 533-541.
[24]	Girotti M., Adler S. M., Bulin S. E., Fucich E. A., Paredes D., & Morilak D. A. (2018). Prefrontal cortex executive processes affected by stress in health and disease. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 85, 161-179.
[25]	Groeneveld M. G., Savas M., van Rossum E. F., & Vermeer H. J. (2020). Children’s hair cortisol as a biomarker of stress at school: a follow-up study. Stress, 23(5), 590-596. doi: 10.1080/10253890.2020.1725467 pmid: 32013649
[26]	Hamre B., Hatfield B., Pianta R., & Jamil F. (2014). Evidence for general and domain‐specific elements of teacher-child interactions: Associations with preschool children's development. Child Development, 85(3), 1257-1274.
[27]	Hennessey E. M. P., Kepinska O., Haft S. L., Chan M., Sunshine I., Jones C.,... Hoeft F. (2020). Hair cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone concentrations: Associations with executive function in early childhood. Biological Psychology, 155, 107946.
[28]	Himi S. A., Bühner M., & Hilbert S. (2021). Advancing the understanding of the factor structure of executive functioning. Journal of Intelligence, 9(1), 16.
[29]	Isralowitz R. E., & Hong O. T. (1990). Singapore youth: The impact of social status on perceptions of adolescent problems. Adolescence, 25(98), 357-362. pmid: 2375263
[30]	Jagiello T., Belcher J., Neelakandan A., Boyd K., & Wuthrich V. M. (2024). Academic Stress Interventions in High Schools: A Systematic Literature Review. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1-34.
[31]	Jiang Z., Jia X., Tao R., & Dördüncü H. (2022). COVID-19: A source of stress and depression among university students and poor academic performance. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 898556.
[32]	Jun S., & Choi E. (2015). Academic stress and Internet addiction from general strain theory framework. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 282-287.
[33]	Knauft K., Waldron A., Mathur M., & Kalia V. (2021). Perceived chronic stress influences the effect of acute stress on cognitive flexibility. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 23629.
[34]	Lal K. (2014). Academic stress among adolescent in relation to intelligence and demographic factors. American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 5(1), 123-129.
[35]	Lazarus R. S. (1990). Theory-based stress measurement. Psychological Inquiry, 1(1), 3-13.
[36]	Lazarus R. S., & Folkman S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer Publishing Company.
[37]	LeBlanc V. R. (2009). The effects of acute stress on performance: Implications for health professions education. Academic Medicine, 84(10), S25-S33.
[38]	Lee M. T., Wong B. P., Chow B. W. Y., & McBride-Chang C. (2006). Predictors of suicide ideation and depression in Hong Kong adolescents: Perceptions of academic and family climates. Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 36(1), 82-96. pmid: 16676629
[39]	Li Y., Wang Y., Ren Z., Gao M., Liu Q., Qiu C., & Zhang W. (2020). The influence of environmental pressure on Internet Use Disorder in adolescents: The potential mediating role of cognitive function. Addictive Behaviors, 101, 105976.
[40]	Lin L., Zhang J., Wang P., Bai X., Sun X., & Zhang L. (2020). Perceived control moderates the impact of academic stress on the attention process of working memory in male college students. Stress, 23(3), 256-264. doi: 10.1080/10253890.2019.1669557 pmid: 31532278
[41]	Liu Q., Liu Y., Leng X., Han J., Xia F., & Chen H. (2020). Impact of Chronic Stress on Attention Control: Evidence from Behavioral and Event-Related Potential Analyses. Neuroscience Bulletin, 36, 1395-1410.
[42]	Liu Y. (2015). The longitudinal relationship between Chinese high school students' academic stress and academic motivation. Learning and Individual Differences, 38, 123-126.
[43]	Liu Y., & Lu Z. (2012). Chinese high school students' academic stress and depressive symptoms: Gender and school climate as moderators. Stress and Health, 28(4), 340-346.
[44]	Lloyd J., Bond F. W., & Flaxman P. E. (2017). Work-related self-efficacy as a moderator of the impact of a worksite stress management training intervention: Intrinsic work motivation as a higher order condition of effect. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(1), 115-127. doi: 10.1037/ocp0000026 pmid: 27054501
[45]	Luo Y., Cui Z., Zou P., Wang K., Lin Z., He J., & Wang J. (2020). Mental health problems and associated factors in Chinese high school students in Henan province: A cross- sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(16), 5944.
[46]	Ma S., & Li Y. (2023). The impact between self-control on academic performance among Chinese adolescents. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 8, 1497-1501.
[47]	Mather M., & Sutherland M. R. (2011). Arousal-biased competition in perception and memory. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(2), 114-133. doi: 10.1177/1745691611400234 pmid: 21660127
[48]	McEwen B. S., & Morrison J. H. (2013). The brain on stress: vulnerability and plasticity of the prefrontal cortex over the life course. Neuron, 79(1), 16-29. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.06.028 pmid: 23849196
[49]	Medyasari L. T., & Dewi N. R. (2021). The measurement of self-efficacy students in mathematics lesson tenth students of senior high school. In Journal of physics: Conference series (Vol. 1918, No. 4, p. 042128). IOP Publishing.
[50]	Miyake A., Friedman N. P., Emerson M. J., Witzki A. H., Howerter A., & Wager T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49-100. doi: 10.1006/cogp.1999.0734 pmid: 10945922
[51]	Mothes L., Kristensen C. H., Oliveira R. G., de Lima Argimon I. I., Fonseca R. P., & Irigaray T. Q. (2017). Stressful events and executive functioning in adolescents with and without history of grade repetition. Universitas Psychologica, 16(4), 139-150.
[52]	Mychasiuk R., Muhammad A., & Kolb B. (2016). Chronic stress induces persistent changes in global DNA methylation and gene expression in the medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and hippocampus. Neuroscience, 322, 489-499. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.02.053 pmid: 26946265
[53]	Nguyen L., Murphy K., & Andrews G. (2019). Cognitive and neural plasticity in old age: A systematic review of evidence from executive functions cognitive training. Ageing Research Reviews, 53, 100912.
[54]	Oei N. Y., Everaerd W. T., Elzinga B. M., van Well S., & Bermond B. (2006). Psychosocial stress impairs working memory at high loads: An association with cortisol levels and memory retrieval. Stress, 9(3), 133-141. pmid: 17035163
[55]	Organisation For Economic Cooperation And Development (OECD). (2017). Overview: Students’ well-being. In PISA 2015 results (Volume III): Students’ well-being (pp. 37-57). Paris, France: Author.
[56]	Park S. H., & Kim Y. (2018). Ways of coping with excessive academic stress among Korean adolescents during leisure time. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 13(1), 1505397.
[57]	Plessow F., Fischer R., Kirschbaum C., & Goschke T. (2011). Inflexibly focused under stress: Acute psychosocial stress increases shielding of action goals at the expense of reduced cognitive flexibility with increasing time lag to the stressor. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23(11), 3218-3227. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00024 pmid: 21452940
[58]	Pontes A., Coelho V., Peixoto C., Meira L., & Azevedo H. (2024). Academic stress and anxiety among portuguese students: The role of perceived social support and self-management. Education Sciences, 14(2), 119.
[59]	Potter J. L., Wade S. L., Walz N. C., Cassedy A., Stevens M. H., Yeates K. O., & Taylor H. G. (2011). Parenting style is related to executive dysfunction after brain injury in children. Rehabilitation Psychology, 56(4), 351-358. doi: 10.1037/a0025445 pmid: 21928918
[60]	Putwain D. W., Jansen in de Wal J., & van Alphen T. (2023). Academic buoyancy: Overcoming test anxiety and setbacks. Journal of Intelligence, 11(3), 42.
[61]	Qi M., Gao H., & Liu G. (2017). Effect of acute psychological stress on response inhibition: An event- related potential study. Behavioural Brain Research, 323, 32-37.
[62]	Quach A. S., Epstein N. B., Riley P. J., Falconier M. K., & Fang X. (2015). Effects of parental warmth and academic pressure on anxiety and depression symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24, 106-116.
[63]	Quinn M. E., & Joormann J. (2015). Control when it counts: Change in executive control under stress predicts depression symptoms. Emotion, 15(4), 522-530. doi: 10.1037/emo0000089 pmid: 26098731
[64]	Rahdar A., & Galván A. (2014). The cognitive and neurobiological effects of daily stress in adolescents. NeuroImage, 92, 267-273. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.02.007 pmid: 24553284
[65]	Reising M. M., Bettis A. H., Dunbar J. P., Watson K. H., Gruhn M., Hoskinson K. R., & Compas B. E. (2018). Stress, coping, executive function, and brain activation in adolescent offspring of depressed and nondepressed mothers. Child Neuropsychology, 24(5), 638-656. doi: 10.1080/09297049.2017.1307950 pmid: 28349772
[66]	Rosenthal R., & Jacobson L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom: Teachers' expectations and pupils' intellectual development. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
[67]	Roskam I., Stievenart M., Meunier J. C., & Noël M. P. (2014). The development of children’s inhibition: Does parenting matter? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 122, 166-182.
[68]	Ryan R. M., & Deci E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78. doi: 10.1037//0003-066x.55.1.68 pmid: 11392867
[69]	Sänger J., Bechtold L., Schoofs D., Blaszkewicz M., & Wascher E. (2014). The influence of acute stress on attention mechanisms and its electrophysiological correlates. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8, 353. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00353 pmid: 25346669
[70]	Sasikumar N., & Bapitha R. (2019). Examination stress and academic achievement in English of Ninth Standard students in Pudukottai Educational District. American Journal of Educational Research, 7(9), 654-659.
[71]	Schoofs D., Preuß D., & Wolf O. T. (2008). Psychosocial stress induces working memory impairments in an n-back paradigm. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33(5), 643-653. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.02.004 pmid: 18359168
[72]	Schunk D. H., & Pajares F. (2002). The development of academic self-efficacy. In Development of achievement motivation (pp. 15-31). Academic Press.
[73]	Schwabe L., Höffken O., Tegenthoff M., & Wolf O. T. (2013). Stress-induced enhancement of response inhibition depends on mineralocorticoid receptor activation. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38(10), 2319-2326. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.05.001 pmid: 23831264
[74]	Selye H. (1977). Stress without distress. School Guidance Worker, 32(5), 5-13.
[75]	Shansky R. M., & Lipps J. (2013). Stress-induced cognitive dysfunction: hormone-neurotransmitter interactions in the prefrontal cortex. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 123. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00123 pmid: 23576971
[76]	Shields G. S., Sazma M. A., & Yonelinas A. P. (2016). The effects of acute stress on core executive functions: A meta-analysis and comparison with cortisol. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 68, 651-668.
[77]	Singh B., & Rathee I. (2013). A study of stress level among senior secondary school students in relation to their gender and type of school. Academic Discourse, 2(2), 98-102.
[78]	Sosic-Vasic Z., Kröner J., Schneider S., Vasic N., & Spitzer M. (2017). The association between parenting behavior and executive functioning in children and young adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 233409.
[79]	Starcke K., Wiesen C., Trotzke P., & Brand M. (2016). Effects of acute laboratory stress on executive functions. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 461. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00461 pmid: 27065926
[80]	Steinberg L. (2005). Cognitive and affective development in adolescence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(2), 69-74. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2004.12.005 pmid: 15668099
[81]	Tan J. B., & Yates S. (2011). Academic expectations as sources of stress in Asian students. Social Psychology of Education, 14, 389-407.
[82]	Tangney J. P., Boone A. L., & Baumeister R. F. (2018). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. In Self-regulation and self-control (pp. 173-212). Routledge.
[83]	Tsai N., Eccles J. S., & Jaeggi S. M. (2019). Stress and executive control: Mechanisms, moderators, and malleability. Brain and Cognition, 133, 54-59. doi: S0278-2626(18)30170-2 pmid: 30396706
[84]	Vandenbroucke L., Spilt J., Verschueren K., & Baeyens D. (2017). Keeping the spirits up: The effect of teachers’ and parents’ emotional support on children’s working memory performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 512. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00512 pmid: 28421026
[85]	Veyis F., Seçer İ., & Ulas S. (2019). An investigation of the mediator role of school burnout between academic stress and academic motivation. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 8(4), 46-53.
[86]	Vinski M. T., & Watter S. (2013). Being a grump only makes things worse: A transactional account of acute stress on mind wandering. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 730. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00730 pmid: 24273520
[87]	Vogel S., & Schwabe L. (2016). Learning and memory under stress: Implications for the classroom. NPJ Science of Learning, 1(1), 1-10.
[88]	Wang S., Xie H., Huang J., & Liang L. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the associations between teacher-child interaction and children’s executive function. Current Psychology, 42(21), 17539-17559.
[89]	Williams P. G., Suchy Y., & Rau H. K. (2009). Individual differences in executive functioning: Implications for stress regulation. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 37(2), 126-140. doi: 10.1007/s12160-009-9100-0 pmid: 19381748
[90]	Wolff M., Enge S., Kräplin A., Krönke K. M., Bühringer G., Smolka M. N., & Goschke T. (2021). Chronic stress, executive functioning, and real‐life self‐control: An experience sampling study. Journal of Personality, 89(3), 402-421.
[91]	Wong J., Salili F., Ho S. Y., Mak K. H., Lai M. K., & Lam T. H. (2005). The perceptions of adolescents, parents and teachers on the same adolescent health issues. School Psychology International, 26(3), 371-384.
[92]	Xiao J. (2002). Determinants of salary growth in Shenzhen, China: An analysis of formal education, on-the-job training, and adult education with a three-level model. Economics of Education Review, 21(6), 557-577.
[93]	Xin M., Xing J., Pengfei W., Houru L., Mengcheng W., & Hong Z. (2018). Online activities, prevalence of Internet addiction and risk factors related to family and school among adolescents in China. Addictive behaviors reports, 7, 14-18. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2017.10.003 pmid: 29450251
[94]	Xu J. J., Cao J. F., Cui L. Z., & Zhu P. (2010). Preliminary compilation of study stress questionnaire for middle school students. Chinese Journal of School Health, 31(1), 68-69.
[95]	Yerkes R. M., & Dodson J. D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology & Psychology, 18, 459-482.
[96]	Yuan Q. (2022). Academic stress predicts negative emotions and academic performances: The role of mindset in moderation process. In 2022 3rd International Conference on Mental Health, Education and Human Development (MHEHD 2022) (pp. 91-98). Atlantis Press.
[97]	Zahodne L. B., Nowinski C. J., Gershon R. C., & Manly J. J. (2015). Self-efficacy buffers the relationship between educational disadvantage and executive functioning. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 21(4), 297-304.
[98]	Zhao X., Chen L., & Maes J. H. (2018). Training and transfer effects of response inhibition training in children and adults. Developmental Science, 21(1), e12511.
[99]	Zhao X., Wang Y., & Maes J. H. (2022). The effect of working memory capacity and training on intertemporal decision making in children from low-socioeconomic- status families. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 216, 105347.
[100]	Zhou X., Bambling M., Bai X., & Edirippulige S. (2023). Chinese school adolescents’ stress experience and coping strategies: A qualitative study. BMC Psychology, 11(1), 1-15.
[101]	Zhu X. L., & Zhao X. (2023). Role of executive function in mathematical ability of children in different grades. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 55(5), 696-710. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00696

Grade	Total	Male	Female	Age (M ± SD, years)
Grade 10	325	159	166	15.87 ± 0.57
Grade 11	335	143	192	16.68 ± 0.61
Grade 12	325	154	171	17.70 ± 0.67
Total	985	456	529	16.75 ± 0.97

Grade	Total	Male	Female	Age (M ± SD, years)
Grade 10	325	159	166	15.87 ± 0.57
Grade 11	335	143	192	16.68 ± 0.61
Grade 12	325	154	171	17.70 ± 0.67
Total	985	456	529	16.75 ± 0.97

Assessment	Grade 10 (n = 325)		Grade 11 (n = 335)		Grade 12 (n = 325)		F(2，982)	η²_p	post-hoc comparisons
Assessment	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	F(2，982)	η²_p	post-hoc comparisons
Academic stress
parental stress	17.13	4.75	18.06	5.02	19.28	5.66	13.67^***	0.03	Grade 12 > Grade 11 > Grade 10
self-imposed stress	18.41	4.70	21.04	4.96	22.34	4.93	54.92^***	0.10	Grade 12 > Grade 11 > Grade 10
teacher stress	13.65	4.07	15.14	4.68	17.78	4.94	67.50^***	0.12	Grade 12 > Grade 11 > Grade 10
social stress	12.44	3.26	11.75	3.04	10.66	2.45	33.25^***	0.06	Grade 12 < Grade 11 < Grade 10
total academic stress	61.63	10.77	65.99	10.68	70.05	10.11	52.04^***	0.10	Grade 12 > Grade 11 > Grade 10
Interference Inhibition
Stroop interference effect(ms)	34.53	55.59	27.07	53.72	20.19	53.74	5.66^**	0.01	Grade 12<Grade 10
Response Inhibition
NOGO accuracy rate	0.91	0.08	0.94	0.05	0.95	0.04	25.56^***	0.06	Grade 12>Grade 11>Grade 10
Working Memory Updating
Updating 750 accuracy rate	0.80	0.13	0.80	0.12	0.82	0.11	3.21^*	0.01	Grade 12>Grade 11=Grade 10
Updating 1750 accuracy rate	0.86	0.09	0.86	0.10	0.88	0.09	7.73^***	0.01	Grade 12>Grade 11=Grade 10
Working Memory Span
Digital forward span	8.15	2.29	8.34	2.05	8.84	2.13	8.90^***	0.02	Grade 12>Grade 11=Grade 10
Digital backward span	6.47	1.81	7.18	1.88	7.88	1.83	48.19^***	0.09	Grade 12>Grade 11>Grade 10
Attention Switching
switching cost(ms)	275.51	197.27	242.05	200.08	211.91	210.02	8.02^***	0.02	Grade 12=Grade 11<Grade 10

Assessment	Grade 10 (n = 325)		Grade 11 (n = 335)		Grade 12 (n = 325)		F(2，982)	η²_p	post-hoc comparisons
Assessment	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	F(2，982)	η²_p	post-hoc comparisons
Academic stress
parental stress	17.13	4.75	18.06	5.02	19.28	5.66	13.67^***	0.03	Grade 12 > Grade 11 > Grade 10
self-imposed stress	18.41	4.70	21.04	4.96	22.34	4.93	54.92^***	0.10	Grade 12 > Grade 11 > Grade 10
teacher stress	13.65	4.07	15.14	4.68	17.78	4.94	67.50^***	0.12	Grade 12 > Grade 11 > Grade 10
social stress	12.44	3.26	11.75	3.04	10.66	2.45	33.25^***	0.06	Grade 12 < Grade 11 < Grade 10
total academic stress	61.63	10.77	65.99	10.68	70.05	10.11	52.04^***	0.10	Grade 12 > Grade 11 > Grade 10
Interference Inhibition
Stroop interference effect(ms)	34.53	55.59	27.07	53.72	20.19	53.74	5.66^**	0.01	Grade 12<Grade 10
Response Inhibition
NOGO accuracy rate	0.91	0.08	0.94	0.05	0.95	0.04	25.56^***	0.06	Grade 12>Grade 11>Grade 10
Working Memory Updating
Updating 750 accuracy rate	0.80	0.13	0.80	0.12	0.82	0.11	3.21^*	0.01	Grade 12>Grade 11=Grade 10
Updating 1750 accuracy rate	0.86	0.09	0.86	0.10	0.88	0.09	7.73^***	0.01	Grade 12>Grade 11=Grade 10
Working Memory Span
Digital forward span	8.15	2.29	8.34	2.05	8.84	2.13	8.90^***	0.02	Grade 12>Grade 11=Grade 10
Digital backward span	6.47	1.81	7.18	1.88	7.88	1.83	48.19^***	0.09	Grade 12>Grade 11>Grade 10
Attention Switching
switching cost(ms)	275.51	197.27	242.05	200.08	211.91	210.02	8.02^***	0.02	Grade 12=Grade 11<Grade 10

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1. Gender	1
2. Age	-0.09^**	1
3. parental stress	-0.01	0.13^***	1
4. self-imposed stress	0.08^**	0.23^***	0.08^**	1
5. teacher stress	0.03	0.28^***	0.35^***	0.05	1
6. social stress	0.03	-0.23^***	0.18^***	0.05	0.13^***	1
7. Interference Inhibition	-0.05	0.08^*	-0.17^***	0.15^***	-0.11^***	-0.16^***	1
8. Response Inhibition	0.11^***	0.15^***	-0.11^**	0.13^***	-0.06	-0.26^***	0.06^*	1
9. Working Memory Updating	0.16^***	0.05	-0.24^***	0.11^***	-0.20^***	-0.06	0.10^**	0.27^***	1
10. Working Memory Span	0.04	0.18^***	-0.12^***	-0.03	-0.05	-0.08^*	0.07^*	0.15^***	0.17^***	1
11. Attention switching	-0.10^**	0.16^***	-0.10^**	0.10^**	-0.09^**	-0.05	0.06^*	0.02	-0.01	0.12^***	1