The role of sensory processing sensitivity and cognitive functions in predicting student’s psychopathological profile

The aim of this study was to examination of the role of sensory processing sensitivity and cognitive functions in predicting students’ psychopathological symptoms. The method was a descriptive and correlation study that the statistical population included all male high school students at 2017-2018 in Ardabil city. The sample consisted of 300 students that were sampled by cluster sampling method. Data were collected using Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS), Cognitive Abilities Questionnaire (CAQ), and Symptoms Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. The results showed that psychopathological indexes such as GSI, PST and PSDI have positive relationship with sensory processing sensitivity (P<0.01), and negative relationship with cognitive functions (P<0.01). Also, the result of multiple regression analysis showed that sensory processing sensitivity and cognitive functions have significant role in explaining of students psychopathological profile (P<0.01). According to these findings, it seems that sensory processing sensitivity and cognitive functions have important role in students’ mental health problems, and can be considered as therapeutic objects in clinical work with students’ psychopathology.