Decision making and Special Attention in Major Depressive and Generalized Anxiety Disorders

This study aimed to investigate the differences of decision making and special attention between major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients. The sample size was 100 of patients that 50 of them were selected for MDD group as well as 50 for GAD group. Participants were selected randomly among the clients of psychiatric hospitals. This study was experimental and was conducted in three phase. The SCID semi-structural inventory of diagnosis and DASS-21 scale were applied for measuring MDD and GAD. The N-Back software test was applied for measuring the special attention and decision making (Khodadadi, Mashhadi & Amani, 2014). Results of one way ANOVA to compare the mean of decision making were 0, 3.97 & 2.52 as well as for special attention 2.43, 38.24 & 28.74. These findings showed that the MDD patients are weak in searching and focusing the cue whereas they are quick when deciding whether to stabilize the cue. In contrast, the GAD patients are same as the MDD patients in focusing and searching the cue while they significantly hesitate when deciding to stabilize it. Special attention is same in both disorders but high speed in decision making is the cognitive factor ruling the major depressive disorder.