Julia A C Case1, Holly Sullivan-Toole1, Matthew Mattoni1, Ross Jacobucci2, Erika E Forbes3, Thomas M Olino4. 1. Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th Street, Weiss Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19122, United States of America. 2. University of Notre Dame, United States of America. 3. University of Pittsburgh, United States of America. 4. Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th Street, Weiss Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19122, United States of America. Electronic address: thomas.olino@temple.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Anhedonia has long been theorized to be a multidimensional construct, focusing on domains of reward stimuli and temporal relationship to reward. However, little empirical work has directly examined whether there is support for this assertion. METHODS: The study used data from young adults from four independent samples (n = 2098). Participants completed multiple measures of anhedonia. RESULTS: We used rigorous conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on items from six commonly used anhedonia measures to examine dimensions underlying anhedonia. Results suggested a four-factor solution with factors reflecting social reward, social disinterest, status/achievement, and physical/natural reward. The identified factors reflected broad content domains of pleasure, but not specific reward processes. The four factors were modestly associated with one another, suggesting a weak common underlying anhedonia trait that manifests across multiple dimensions. Factor scores were associated with personality measures, reward-related indices, and depression symptoms, supporting the validity of the factors. LIMITATIONS: Participants were all young adults and we assessed anhedonia only at the level of self-report. CONCLUSION: Anhedonia is a multidimensional construct. However, the dimensions of anhedonia only distinguish domains of, but not temporal processes of anhedonia. Future work should continue to refine the structures underlying the construct of anhedonia through iterative theory- and data-driven research and examine associations between anhedonia and clinical outcomes.
BACKGROUND: Anhedonia has long been theorized to be a multidimensional construct, focusing on domains of reward stimuli and temporal relationship to reward. However, little empirical work has directly examined whether there is support for this assertion. METHODS: The study used data from young adults from four independent samples (n = 2098). Participants completed multiple measures of anhedonia. RESULTS: We used rigorous conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on items from six commonly used anhedonia measures to examine dimensions underlying anhedonia. Results suggested a four-factor solution with factors reflecting social reward, social disinterest, status/achievement, and physical/natural reward. The identified factors reflected broad content domains of pleasure, but not specific reward processes. The four factors were modestly associated with one another, suggesting a weak common underlying anhedonia trait that manifests across multiple dimensions. Factor scores were associated with personality measures, reward-related indices, and depression symptoms, supporting the validity of the factors. LIMITATIONS: Participants were all young adults and we assessed anhedonia only at the level of self-report. CONCLUSION: Anhedonia is a multidimensional construct. However, the dimensions of anhedonia only distinguish domains of, but not temporal processes of anhedonia. Future work should continue to refine the structures underlying the construct of anhedonia through iterative theory- and data-driven research and examine associations between anhedonia and clinical outcomes.
Authors: Thomas Insel; Bruce Cuthbert; Marjorie Garvey; Robert Heinssen; Daniel S Pine; Kevin Quinn; Charles Sanislow; Philip Wang Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2010-07 Impact factor: 18.112