ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Neuropsychology
"Exploring the Interplay of Neuropsychological Functions, Psychological Wellbeing, and Lifestyle through Principal Component Analysis: A Comprehensive Study"
Provisionally accepted
Nicolas Ayala-Aldana1,2,3*
Marina Ruiz-Rivera1,2Ariadna Pinar-Marti2,4,5Monica Lopez-Vicente2Oren Contreras-Rodriguez6
Jordi Julvez1,2,7*- 1Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV), Tarragona, Spain
- 2Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- 3Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- 4Institut d'Investigacio Sanitaria Pere Virgili, Reus, Spain
- 5Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- 6Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- 7Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
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Introduction: A balanced psychological well-being and healthy lifestyle —which includes regular physical activity and the prevention of alcohol and tobacco use— are relevant for neuropsychological functioning. We aimed to analyze the association between adolescent psychological well-being, physical activity, and ever having used alcohol and tobacco with neuropsychological principal components (PC). Method: This cross-sectional research used the baseline data from a sample of 523 healthy adolescents enrolled in the Walnuts Smart Snack Dietary Intervention Trial from Barcelona. We performed principal components analysis (PCA) to determine neuropsychological PC using working memory, fluid intelligence, emotional recognition, risky decision-making and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between psychological well-being, physical activity, and ever used alcohol and tobacco with neuropsychological PC. Regression models were adjusted by child sex, age, maternal education and socioeconomic status. Results: Two neuropsychological PC, "ADHD symptoms" and "hot executive function", were identified in PCA analyses (eigenvalues >1.0). Psychological well-being showed an inverse association with the "ADHD symptoms" PC (𝛽1= -0.04, CI= -0.07, -0.02, p-value = <0.001). Ever having consumed alcohol (𝛽1= 0.26, CI= 0.07, 0.44, p-value= 0.006) and ever having smoked (𝛽1= 0.66, CI= 0.42, 0.90, p-value= <0.001) were positively associated with "ADHD symptoms" PC. Moderate to vigorous physical activity during leisure time was positively associated with the "hot executive functions" PC (𝛽1= 0.09, 95% CI =0.00, 0.17, p-value = 0.041). Conclusion: Our main results suggest that less psychological well-being, as well as ever having used alcohol or tobacco, was associated with "ADHD symptoms" PC. Physical activity might have a direct association with "hot executive functions" PC in a healthy adolescent sample.
Keywords: ADHD, adolescence, lifestyle, Neuropsychological functions, Principal Component Analysis
Received: 25 Aug 2025; Accepted: 28 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ayala-Aldana, Ruiz-Rivera, Pinar-Marti, Lopez-Vicente, Contreras-Rodriguez and Julvez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Nicolas Ayala-Aldana
Jordi Julvez
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