The impact of gender, anxiety, and depression on performance on pursuit rotor

In this study the impact of gender, levels of anxiety, and depression on pursuit rotor performance task was investigated. The participants were 292 undergraduate students (171 men and 121 women) of Kuwait University, Kuwait. They completed an anxiety scale, depression scale, and 4 speed levels of pursuit rotor. They were divided into 3 groups (low, middle, and high anxiety and depression) based on their scores on the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS; Abdel-Khalek, 2000) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961). The results revealed that groups of men with low levels of anxiety, and high level of depression showed significant increment in performance and had more time on target than the other groups in all 4 speed sessions, whereas women displayed less time on target of pursuit rotor.