Executive functions (EFs) are essential cognitive processes involved in concentration, planning, decision-making, and impulse control during adolescence. Executive Dysfunction (ED) can lead to significant academic and socio-emotional difficulties, particularly with impairments in emotion regulation (ER). This study aims to assess a virtual reality (VR) cognitive training intervention on EFs, ER, and internalizing symptoms in adolescents at risk for ED. Thirty-eight adolescents aged 12–14 years, identified as being at moderate to high risk for ED, were randomly assigned to two groups. The experimental group (n = 22) received gamified VR cognitive training, while the control group (n = 16) received VR nature-based relaxation training. Both interventions lasted five weeks, twice a week for 30 min each. Pre- and post-assessments included ER skills, internalizing symptoms, and cognitive performance measures. Two-way mixed ANOVAs showed significant group × time interactions (p < 0.05) in measures of depression and internalizing symptoms. The experimental group showed significant reductions in these symptoms compared with the control group. Significant main effects of time (p < 0.05) were also found on some measures. Both groups experienced reduced anxiety, improved emotional control and cognitive functioning, and VR cognitive training was particularly effective in reducing internalizing symptoms, while both interventions showed promising results in improving some ER skills and cognitive performance. The findings demonstrate the preliminary effects of VR-based cognitive training in improving the psychological and cognitive well-being of adolescents at risk for ED and suggest that integrating VR technologies into educational settings can effectively address the cognitive and emotional challenges faced by these students.

Difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) have been consistently associated with eating disorders (EDs). However, little is known about how this association operates during early adolescence, and the specific influence of sex. Objectives: This study aims to assess if maladaptive ER strategies predict greater ED symptomatology, while adaptive strategies predict lower levels of EDs symptoms among early adolescents. Additionally, the moderating effect of sex will also be assessed in these associations. Method: Ninety-eight Spanish-speaking adolescents aged 12–15 years (55 girls, 43 boys) participated in this study and completed a baseline assessment, including measures of EDs, adaptative (i.e., cognitive reappraisal) and maladaptive (i.e., expressive suppression and rumination) ER strategies. Independent sample t-tests were used to examine sex differences in age, ER, and ED symptoms. Hierarchical regression models assessed whether sex moderated the associations between ER strategies and ED symptoms. Results: Girls reported significantly higher levels of both brooding and reflective rumination compared to boys, but no sex differences were found in other measures. Regression analyses showed that expressive suppression and brooding rumination significantly predicted higher ED symptomatology, independent of sex. In contrast, cognitive reappraisal and reflective rumination were not associated with ED symptoms. No moderating effects of sex were observed in any model. Conclusions: Findings indicate that maladaptive ER strategies, particularly expressive suppression and ruminative brooding, predict greater ED symptom severity in early adolescence. However, sex did not moderate these relationships. These results underscore the importance of targeting maladaptive ER processes in adolescent prevention programs. Interventions focused on reducing maladaptive ER may be especially relevant at this developmental stage, when cognitive capacities for adaptive ER are still maturing.

Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging tool for cognitive training with adolescents, offering immersive environments that may enhance engagement and learning. However, individual factors such as sex/gender and internalizing symptoms may influence how adolescents experience VR. This pilot study evaluates a VR cognitive training program for adolescents, focusing on feasibility, usability, cybersickness and exploratory sex/gender-related patterns in enjoyment, immersion, and associations between internalizing symptoms and user experience. Sixty-one Spanish-speaking adolescents received a gamified VR cognitive training program. The intervention lasted five weeks and consisted of ten 30-minute group sessions. Feasibility measures included the System Usability Scale and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire at the end of the intervention. Session-level measures of immersion and enjoyment were collected via Visual Analogue Scales. Baseline internalizing symptoms were assessed using the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale. Adolescents reported consistently high levels of immersion, enjoyment, and usability. Linear mixed-effects models showed no significant change across sessions and no Session × Sex/Gender interaction for either immersion or enjoyment. Immersion did not differ significantly by sex/gender, whereas boys reported higher enjoyment than girls across sessions. Post-intervention SUS scores did not differ significantly by sex/gender. Similarly, SSQ nausea and oculomotor symptoms did not show significant sex/gender differences. In exploratory sex/gender-stratified regression analyses, baseline internalizing symptoms significantly predicted SSQ nausea and oculomotor symptoms among girls, but not among boys. These findings support the feasibility and acceptability of VR-based cognitive training among adolescents. They also suggest that internalizing symptoms may be relevant to adolescents’ subjective cybersickness experiences, although potential sex/gender-specific patterns should be interpreted cautiously and confirmed in adequately powered studies.

Executive functions (EFs) and parental styles are key determinants of adolescent mental health. This study investigates the mediating role of EFs in the relationship between parenting styles (communicative, hostile, and neglectful) and anxiety and depression symptoms in a sample of 165 adolescents (50.9% boys and 49.1% girls) from 12 to 16 years old (mean age 13.29) from schools with varying socioeconomic vulnerability levels. Participants completed the Child’s Report of Parental Behavior Inventory, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function 2 and the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale. The results show that adolescents in high‐vulnerability schools exhibit significantly higher anxiety and depression symptoms and perceive lower parental communication from both mothers and fathers compared to those in low‐vulnerability schools. No significant differences were observed in EFs difficulties based on school vulnerability. Regression analyses indicate that parental communication predicts lower levels of anxiety and depression symptoms, whereas paternal neglect emerges as a specific risk predictor. Mediation models reveal that EFs deficits, specifically in cognitive flexibility and working memory, serve as the primary mechanism linking parenting styles to emotional adjustment. These findings underscore the importance of parental communication as a secure environment that may foster not only cognitive development but also mentalization (or reflective functioning). We conclude that school‐based interventions should prioritize EFs training as an equity‐based tool to protect the well‐being of adolescents in high‐vulnerability settings.