Adolescent cognitive control processing is associated with anxiety in young adulthood during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with widespread increases in levels of stress and anxiety among young adults. Given that responses to stressful life events vary, it is important to understand how pre-pandemic neurocognitive factors shape reactivity to stress and susceptibility to anxiety. The present study examines associations between pre-pandemic brain activation patterns during cognitive control processing and anxiety trajectories during the pandemic. Participants were recruited as part of an ongoing longitudinal study of temperament and socioemotional development (N = 291). Forty-seven participants completed a cognitive control fMRI task and anxiety measures in late adolescence before the pandemic. In young adulthood, anxiety was assessed three times during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multivariate whole-brain models tested whether activation patterns during the conflict and error processing associated with latent anxiety indices derived from a latent growth curve model. Neural response during conflict and error processing related to anxiety in distinct cortical and subcortical regions. Level of anterior cingulate cortex engagement during cognitive control related to anxiety. However, during error processing, level of engagement in the dorsolateral prefrontal, rather than anterior cingulate cortex, related to anxiety. This work provides preliminary evidence for the predictive utility of prestress neurocognitive factors for young adults' anxiety response during a uniquely stressful event. Adolescence is a critical time for early identification of youth at risk to create targeted interventions to enhance stress resilience.