Psychometric Properties of the Revised Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales in Non-Clinical Young Adults

Abstract

Anhedonia, a central dimension within the schizotypy construct, has been considered to be a promising vulnerability marker for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The Revised Physical Anhedonia Scale (RPhA) and Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS) are two self-reports widely used in the assessment of anhedonia; however, they psychometric characteristics have been scarcely investigated in Spanish population. The objective of the current work was to study the psychometric properties of the Revised Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales in non-clinical young adults. The sample was composed of 728 college students with a mean age of 20.1 years (SD=2.5). The data indicated that the scales showed adequate psychometric characteristics. The Cronbach alpha was 0.95 (RSAS) and 0.92 (RPhA) respectively. The confirmatory factor analysis carried out on the matrix of tetrachoric correlations showed that both scales presented an essentially unidimensional solution. The Revised Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales seem to be adequate for psychosis-risk assessment in non-clinical populations. Future research should further investigate the construct validity in other populations and cultures as well as study its relation to emotional aspects and cognitive endophenotypes.

The Challenges of Fitting an Item Response Theory Model to the Social Anhedonia Scale

“…Ostensibly, the SAS was designed to measure a single construct and one would therefore expect to find that a single latent dimension would reproduce the item inter-correlations well. This is exactly what Fonseca-Pedrero et al (2009) argue in a confirmatory factor analysis using a translated version of the SAS in a Spanish college student sample. Specifically, in a one-factor model, these researchers found: RMSEA=.067 and CFI=.92, indicating an acceptable recovery of the original tetrachoric correlation matrix.…”

“…However, in reference to Fonseca-Pedrero et al (2009), we note that: a) an acceptable fit to a one-factor model does not imply a “strong” single dimension or that the loadings are estimated correctly (i.e., unbiased by correlated residuals), b) alternative multidimensional models or modification indices were not reported, and c) the authors reported very high loadings for many items (i.e., six loadings > .70, and one loading was .90) and an exceptionally high coefficient alpha (α =.95). In short, these latter findings suggest that SAS responses in this Spanish sample were more internally consistent than is typically found in U.S. samples.…”

Individual Differences in Music Reward Experiences

“…The PAS scale evaluates difficulty in feeling physical and aesthetic pleasure in response to typical pleasurable physical stimuli (food, sex, beautiful scenes, etc.). The Spanish version of the PAS show an alpha coefficient of .92 (Fonseca-Pedrero et al, 2009). Openness to experience (from the NEO-PI-R) is believed to reflect intellectual curiosity, preference for the arts and imagination (Costa & McCrae, 1992 Romero, Luengo, Gómez-Fraguela, & Sobral, 2002).…”

Anhedonia Is an Important Factor of Health-Related Quality-of-Life Deficit in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

“…For each assessment approach, psychometric properties, relationships with other symptoms and features of schizophrenia, and relationships with other assessment approaches are evaluated (Horan et al, 2006). In this study, anhedonia was assessed using the revised versions of the Revised Physical Anhedonia Scale (PAS; Chapman LJ, Chapman JP Revised Physical Anhedonia Scale, 1978;unpublished test) and the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (SAS; Eckblad ML, Chapman LJ, Chapman JP and Mishlove M The Revised Social Anhedonia Scale, 1982; unpublished test), which showed adequate psychometric characteristics (Fonseca-Pedrero et al, 2009). These true/ false self-report measures provide indices of the pleasure derived from physical and social-interpersonal sources, respectively.…”