Psychometric properties of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale in Chinese typical, subthreshold, and clinically depressed adolescents

Abstract

The Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale measures state anhedonia in multiple domains, such as hobbies, food and drink, social activities, and sensory experience, and it has good reliability and validity in adult samples. However, no study has examined the psychometrical properties of this scale in adolescents. The present study examined its reliability and validity in adolescents with and without depression. In Study 1, 988 high‐school students completed the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale; 915 completed the second‐round survey 3 months later. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure. Additionally, internal consistency and test–retest reliability, and concurrent, convergent, and divergent validity were assessed in typical adolescents. In Study 2, the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale was administrated to 108 patients with major depressive disorder, 108 adolescents with subthreshold depression, and 108 healthy controls. Factor structure and convergent validity were assessed in the clinical and subclinical groups. Finally, a one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to examine the effect of depression severity on the scale scores. The results of Study 1 indicated that a four‐factor model (i.e., hobbies, food and drink, social activities, and sensory experience) best fit the data. Meanwhile, the scale also yielded good concurrent, convergent, and divergent validity, as well as high internal consistency and test–retest reliability, in typical adolescents. In Study 2, goodness‐of‐fit statistics also suggested a good fit for the four‐factor model in the two depressed groups. The one‐way ANOVA revealed significant group differences in the total and factor scores, whereby the major depressive disorder group had lower scores than the subthreshold depression group, whose scores were lower than the healthy controls, indicating excellent eligibility of the scale in depressed adolescents. The Chinese version of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale is a reliable and valid instrument to comprehensively measure state anhedonia in Chinese typical and depressed adolescents.

Assessing Anhedonia in Adolescents: The Psychometric Properties and Validity of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale

“…Yet, associations of the DARS with a drive to achieve goals (BAS-Drive) and novelty-seeking (BAS-Fun) ranged from small to moderate. The moderate association between the DARS and BAS-Reward subscale replicates past research (Rizvi et al, 2015; Xiao et al, 2022), and ultimately supports the convergent validity of the DARS. Although associations of the DARS with the BAS-Drive and BAS-Fun subscales were weaker than expected, it may be because these BAS subscales assess externalizing symptoms less central to anhedonia (e.g., Taubitz et al, 2015).…”

“…Although associations of the DARS with the BAS-Drive and BAS-Fun subscales were weaker than expected, it may be because these BAS subscales assess externalizing symptoms less central to anhedonia (e.g., Taubitz et al, 2015). Indeed, other researchers have also found weak associations of the DARS with a drive to achieve goals (BAS-Drive) and novelty-seeking (BAS-Fun; Rizvi et al, 2015; Xiao et al, 2022). Thus, associations of the DARS with other measures of adolescent anhedonia and BAS subscales were reasonable given past research, and generally support its ability to detect deficits in reward responsiveness and reward processing in adolescents.…”

“…Since publication of the DARS, its validity in adults has been assessed and established in different languages, including Spanish (Arrua-Duarte et al, 2019), Chinese (Ching et al, 2021), and German (Wellan et al, 2021). The DARS has also been validated in a sample of Chinese adolescents (Xiao et al, 2022); however, its psychometric properties have not yet been assessed in a sample of English-speaking adolescents. Given the importance of cross-cultural validity (Souza et al, 2017), we aimed to assess the validity of DARS in English-speaking adolescents residing in North America.…”

Presurgical structural imaging and clinical outcome in combined bed nucleus of the stria terminalis–nucleus accumbens deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression

“…Other examinerrating or self-reported scales were also collected at General Psychiatry baseline, including the Depression and Somatic Symptoms Scale (DSSS), 14 the 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology self-report, 15 the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), 16 the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), 17 the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) 18 and the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS). 19 The criteria for response and remission were ≥50% reduction of HAMD-17 Score from baseline and HAMD Score ≤7, respectively.…”

“…19, MD: p=0.012, t=2.94, RD: p=0.013, t=2.93, Characteristics of included patients and the clinical scales at baseline and 6-month follow-up…”