Physical and social anhedonia in female adolescents: A factor analysis of self-report measures.

Abstract

Anhedonia is a transdiagnostic symptom of psychopathology that includes diminished positive emotions and anticipation and enjoyment of reward, with particular salience during adolescence. However, the construct validity of anhedonia dimensions is not well established, thus limiting operationalization and generalization of the construct. We applied exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to identify latent dimensions of anhedonia across four commonly used self-report measures covering different facets of anhedonic experience within a nonclinical sample of female adolescents across two waves of data collection (N = 173, Mage = 19.25; N = 147, Mage = 20.23). Factor analyses yielded a two-factor model with a physical anhedonia factor emphasizing enjoyment from physical sensations and a social anhedonia factor focusing on emotional connections with other people. These results have implications for the measurement of anhedonia in women’s emotional well-being and mental health research, including research designed to identify facets of anhedonia that predict the onset, severity, and persistence of psychopathology.

Diminished hedonic capacity in social activities as a mediator of the link between dysfunctional behavioral activation system and depressive symptoms

“…Additionally, both males and females reported similar preferences for hobbies (e.g., watching short videos), food/drink (e.g., fried foods), and sensory experiences (e.g., listening to music). Moreover, the DARS measured the participants’ state of anhedonia ( 19 ), and studies focusing on adolescent state of anhedonia did not report significant sex differences ( 20 , 52 ).…”

The negative effects of the pandemic on human behavior; alienation and social anhedonia: the example of sport sciences students

“…In other words, the speed of social change and the current COVID 19 pandemic are similar in terms of affecting human behavior all over the world [8,22,23,24]. When the literature on the subject is examined, it is possible to come across studies that reveal the effects of the mentioned social events on various social groups [13,25]. However, when the relevant studies were reviewed, no research was found in which the sample group consisted of students studying in the field of sports.…”

Dysfunction of visual novelty detection in physical but not social anhedonia in a non-clinical sample

“…It has been known for decades that anhedonia is a heterogenous construct and can be decomposed into physical and social anhedonia ( Chapman et al., 1976 ), and this two-dimensional structure of anhedonia has been validated among both non-clinical and clinical individuals ( Langvik & Borgen Austad, 2019 ; Yang et al., 2022 ). Physical anhedonia is associated with decreased pleasure for physical or sensory experiences, whereas social anhedonia involves deriving less pleasure from social interaction with other people.…”