Development of a Comprehensive Methodology for Assessing Executive Control Measures and Its Validation on Groups of Russian and Foreign Students

Executive control is a person's ability to voluntarily manage his/her actions and states under conditions of changing external environment. Executive control includes two components - (1) activational control, i.e., the ability to achieve a goal, and (2) inhibitory control, i.e., the ability to abandon actions if they become inadequate to the situation. Disorders of executive control are often symptoms of many pathologies, including anxiety disorder and depression. Correlates of executive control can include both somatic and autonomic responses of the body. In this study, we developed and tested a comprehensive methodology for collecting and analyzing experimental data aimed at assessing the state of executive control systems in students during their adaptation to academic load. The method included psychological assessment using a set of questionnaires, behavioral assessment based on the stop-signal paradigm, as well as registration and analysis of electrocardiogram in conditions of orthostatic test. Based on the application of the methodology, the risks of developing psychosomatic disorders in students in case of their unsuccessful adaptation to the educational load can be assessed.