{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T09:14:42Z","timestamp":1788340482241,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,30]],"date-time":"2026-08-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788048000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ.","EJIHPE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Post-COVID symptoms frequently include cognitive complaints, yet evidence on objectively measured cognitive performance in large samples of young adults remains limited. This study examined associations between self-reported post-COVID consequences and objective cognitive performance in university students, with particular attention to acute COVID-19 severity. The sample comprised 7482 students aged 17\u201323 years: 3945 reported no previous COVID-19, 1676 reported previous COVID-19 without post-COVID consequences, and 1861 reported previous COVID-19 with post-COVID consequences. Visuospatial working memory was assessed using the Corsi Block Tapping Test (CTB), and choice-response performance was assessed using accuracy and mean correct-response latency in a four-choice reaction time task. Analyses accounted for age, sex, and clustering by university; among previously infected participants, models additionally adjusted for perceived acute COVID-19 severity. The primary adjusted analyses included 7117 participants for CTB and 6361 participants for the cleaned choice-response accuracy and latency analyses. In the three-group analysis, students reporting post-COVID consequences had slightly lower CTB scores than those without previous COVID-19 (B = \u22120.146, 95% CI [\u22120.277, \u22120.015], p = 0.029), although the effect was small and was not fully robust in an ordinal sensitivity model (OR = 0.91, 95% CI [0.82, 1.00], p = 0.052). No reduction in choice-response accuracy or robust slowing of response latency was observed in the post-COVID consequence group. Among previously infected participants, post-COVID consequences were not significantly associated with CTB performance (B = \u22120.149, 95% CI [\u22120.311, 0.013], p = 0.071), choice-response accuracy (OR = 0.80, 95% CI [0.60, 1.07], p = 0.126), or response latency (\u22120.79%, 95% CI [\u22122.06%, 0.49%], p = 0.224) after adjustment for acute severity, age, and sex; none of these associations remained significant after false discovery rate correction. Acute COVID-19 severity was likewise not significantly associated with the cognitive outcomes. Overall, self-reported post-COVID consequences were associated with, at most, small and outcome-dependent differences in objective cognitive performance in this young university sample. The findings do not support a broad objective cognitive deficit associated with self-reported post-COVID consequences after accounting for acute disease severity and demographic factors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ejihpe16090131","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T02:08:58Z","timestamp":1788142138000},"page":"131","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Association Between Post-COVID Consequences and Cognitive Performance in University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3786-7447","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sergey","family":"Malykh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Federal State Budget Scientific Institution \u201cFederal Scientific Center of Psychological and Multidisciplinary Research\u201d, 125009 Moscow, 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