Anticipatory vs. consummatory pleasure: What is the nature of hedonic deficits in schizophrenia?

Abstract

Recent research has distinguished between anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. In the current study, we examined the psychometric properties of the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS) to determine whether reliability and validity findings reported in previous research replicate in an additional sample of schizophrenia patients. Participants included 86 individuals with schizophrenia and 59 demographically matched healthy controls. Inconsistent with previous research, patients differed from controls in their reports of consummatory (TEPS-CON), but not anticipatory (TEPS-ANT) pleasure. We also failed to replicate some important correlational findings reported in previous research indicating relationships between the TEPS-ANT subscale and external validators. Analyses of the stability of the TEPS subscales were conducted in a sub-group of patients (n = 19), and indicated excellent stability for the TEPS-CON (ICC = 0.93), but somewhat lower stability for the TEPS-ANT subscale (ICC = 0.74). These findings suggest that additional studies are needed using the TEPS, as well as other measures, to determine the nature of anhedonia in individuals with schizophrenia.

Anhedonia in schizophrenia: The role of subjective experiences

“…ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 11 The only clinical variable in which patients with schizophrenia did not score differently from HCs was the consummatory subscale of the TEPS, confirming higher anhedonia levels in the patient group and specifically as lower anticipatory pleasure.…”

Probabilistic Reversal Learning in Schizophrenia: Stability of Deficits and Potential Causal Mechanisms

“…Consistent with prior studies, patients made more errors following valid positive feedback. 5,20,[41][42][43] However, in contrast to the above-noted studies, patients also responded sub-optimally following negative feedback by more often staying with the "incorrect" stimulus. A similar pattern was observed in recent studies in which patients inadequately used both positive and negative feedback for subsequent decision-making.…”

Improving Pleasure and Motivation in Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

“…In a replication study using the TEPS with another cohort of schizophrenia subjects, the opposite result was obtained. Schizophrenia subjects self-reported a difference in consummatory pleasure but not anticipatory pleasure compared with controls [52]. In another study, there were no significant differences in either consummatory or anticipatory pleasure between schizophrenia and healthy control groups, except for patients with high levels of amotivation who were impaired on both dimensions [53].…”