BIO

Zach Helms is a third year Psychology and Criminology Double Major from Gulf Breeze Florida. His research interests include clinical assessment measures, antisocial behavior and its analogues, biological correlates to behavior, and forensic applications. After graduating, he aims to pursue his PhD in clinical psychology and become a practicing forensic psychologist.

Correlating Depression, Anxiety, and Stress with Spatial Navigation Skills

Abstract

Background: Depression, anxiety, and stress can significantly impair cognitive functioning, leading to difficulties in concentration, memory retrieval, decision-making, spatial navigation, and overall mental clarity. Existing literature suggests that individuals diagnosed with depression exhibit compromised navigational abilities, while children experiencing anxiety demonstrate impaired spatial orientation. This points to a potential association between clinically diagnosed anxiety and depression and deficits in spatial navigation and orientation (Zafar et al., 2023).

Methods: The present study aims to investigate correlation between spatial navigation skills and scores on the DASS21, a self-report questionnaire designed to gauge the severity of core symptoms related to Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. Spatial skills will be assessed using the Spatial Orientation Test (SOT) and Directions & ORienting Assessment (DORA). We plan to recruit 45 younger and 45 older adults.

Results: This study is currently ongoing, with an anticipated conclusion in April 2024. We hypothesize that individuals with higher scores on the DASS21 will perform less effectively on spatial navigation tests, irrespective of age and gender.

Keywords: Spatial Navigation, Anxiety, Depression, Stress