Walking on the bright side: Associations between affect, depression, and gait

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Psychomotor changes are a key symptom of depression, impacting diagnosis.
• Previous research on gait deviations in depression is limited, particularly in young adults.
• The relationship between affective dysregulation and gait in depression remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between positive and negative affect, depressive symptom severity, and gait parameters in young adults.
• To address the gap in research concerning gait changes and affective symptoms in younger populations.
• To determine if objective gait measures correlate with self-reported mood and depression levels.

Main Methods:

• Utilized three-dimensional motion capture to collect gait data (velocity, stride length, step time) from 90 young adults.
• Participants walked 10 meters at their own pace overground for ten minutes.
• Collected self-report measures of mood and affect concurrently with gait data.

Main Results:

• The study population generally reported high negative affect and low positive affect.
• Hierarchical regressions revealed no significant associations between gait parameters and affective or depressive symptoms.
• Objective gait analysis did not support hypothesized links between mood states and walking patterns.

Conclusions:

• Findings do not support a direct relationship between affective symptoms and gait parameters in young adults.
• Age-dependent factors or other depressive symptoms might influence gait more than affect.
• Further research is needed to explore potential observational biases and confirm findings in young adults.