Investigation of the relationship between university students’ attentional impulsivity levels and psychological and physiological stress responses

Abstract

Introduction The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between attentional impulsivity levels and physiological and psychological stress responses of university students. Material and methods In the study, a correlational research methodology was applied, and 300 university students participated in the study. Four different data collection tools were used in the study: a personal information form, the Physiological Stress Response Inventory, and the Attentional Impulsivity Part of Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. In data analysis, descriptive values (mean, standard deviation, and minimum-maximum values) regarding the dependent variables and frequencies of the categorical variables were calculated, and then Pearson correlation analysis and linear regression analysis with the enter method were applied. Results The findings of the study revealed that attentional impulsivity of the participants is significantly related to both physiological stress responses (R2 = 0.04, F[1;267] = 11.45, p < 0.05) and psychological stress responses (R2 = 0.04, F[1;270] = 10.40, p < 0.05). At the same time, there is a significant negative association between physiological stress responses and psychological stress responses (r = –0.68). Conclusions It can be said that attentional impulsivity is an important variable for explaining changes in both physiological and psychological stress responses. Also, physiological and psychological stress responses should be considered as separate kinds of stress responses in stress response measurements.

Keywords

• stress responses
• attentional impulsivity
• university students
• physiological and psychological states