Predicting Aggression and Anxiety in Adolescents Based on Executive Brain Function

Abstract

The present study aimed to predict aggression and anxiety in adolescents based on executive brain functions among female high school students in Islamshahr. This applied study employed a descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population consisted of all female adolescents aged 14–18 years studying in secondary schools in Islamshahr during the 2025–2026 academic year, totaling 40,251 students. Based on Morgan’s table, 351 students were selected using random cluster sampling. Data collection instruments included Nejati’s Executive Functions Questionnaire, the Lovibond and Lovibond Anxiety Scale (DASS-21), and the Aggression Scale developed by Nilsson et al. Data were analyzed using SPSS software through Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Prior to inferential analyses, assumptions of normality, independence of errors, and absence of multicollinearity were examined and confirmed. The findings demonstrated a significant negative relationship between executive brain function and adolescent aggression (r = -0.645), as well as between executive brain function and anxiety (r = -0.511). In addition, a significant positive relationship was observed between anxiety and aggression (r = 0.431). Regression analyses revealed that decision-making, cognitive flexibility, social cognition, planning, inhibitory control and selective attention, sustained attention, and memory significantly predicted adolescent aggression. Furthermore, inhibitory control and selective attention, social cognition, planning, memory, and sustained attention significantly predicted adolescent anxiety. All regression models were statistically significant at the 0.001 level. The results indicated that adolescent aggression and anxiety are not merely emotional or environmentally driven phenomena, but are substantially rooted in executive cognitive processes and brain functions. Deficits in executive components such as inhibitory control, planning, and cognitive flexibility may increase vulnerability to emotional and behavioral problems during adolescence. Therefore, cognitive training and executive function enhancement programs may play a critical role in reducing anxiety and aggression among adolescents.