Date of Award

7-13-2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Thomas Petros

Abstract

Antidepressants are a common form of treatment for individuals with depression. Research has found that impaired cognitive performance is correlated with individuals taking anti-depressants. Specifically, driving performance may be impaired by the use of antidepressants. The current study recruited 60 individuals to participate in a driving simulator and a divided attention task requiring tracking. A total of 31 participants were taking at least one type of antidepressant, while the 29 control participants were taking no medications with the exception of oral contraceptives. Analyses found that the group taking antidepressants performed significantly worse than the control group on several of the driving performance variables. The groups did differ significantly on their tracking performance. However, the medicated group did significantly worse on a memory portion of the divided attention task. Individuals taking antidepressants should be aware of the possible cognitive effects as it may affect performance in social, academic, and work settings as well as driving abilities.

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