Visual memory: Validity of BVMT-R and relationships with depressive and anxious symptoms

This dissertation explored a specific neuropsychological measure that can be used as part of an assessment to diagnose cognitive impairment, the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test, Revised (BVMT-R), which assesses visual memory. A total of 175 participants, from either a community (n = 109), residential (n = 49), or clinical setting ( n = 17), completed a brief neuropsychological battery. Correlational analyses found evidence for both convergent and divergent validity for the BVMT-R. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses found that age and education were significant predictors of BVMT-R scores, with education being the largest contributor. Normative data were established for adults 80 years and older and were stratified by education level. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analyses found that both Total Recall and Delayed Recall scores of the BVMT-R had strong Areas Under the Curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity rates, making them the most clinically useful scores. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses found that increased levels of depressive symptoms were a significant predictor of lower BVMT-R Total Recall scores. Anxiety symptoms did not significantly affect any of the BVMT-R scores. Overall, these results suggest that the BVMT-R is a valid and accurate measure that assesses visual memory, especially the Total and Delayed Recall scores, and that normative data among older adults may need to be stratified by education level as well as age. Also, there was a lack of a relationship between BVMT-R scores and anxious symptoms, and only one significant relationship among the BVMT-R scores and depressive symptoms, the Total Recall score that assesses immediate memory.