TY - JOUR
T1 - Translational assessment of anhedonia components
T2 - Significant associations between reward anticipation measured via behavioural task performance, daily smartphone reports, and general anhedonia questionnaires
AU - Parsons, C E
AU - Tollånes, L
AU - Cella, M
AU - Hirsch, C R
AU - Young, K S
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024
PY - 2025/1
Y1 - 2025/1
N2 - Anhedonia, a reduction in pleasure in previously enjoyed activities, is a hallmark feature of depression and is also of transdiagnostic relevance to many psychiatric disorders. Treatment and measurement of anhedonia are significant challenges. We examine anhedonia components, combining experimental training, with multimodal anhedonia assessment, comprising standard questionnaire instruments, a widely-used behavioural task, and daily reports of reward experience. Seventy-eight adults (74.4% female) completed both positive and negative cognitive bias modification training, a laboratory-based behavioural measure of reward anticipation and motivation, the Effort-Expenditure for Reward Task (EEfRT), and seven days of experience sampling via their smartphones. We found no evidence that cognitive bias modification training affected choices to engage in the high-effort trials on the EEfRT task, theorised to reflect reward anticipation. We also did not find the expected associations between baseline measures of anhedonia and reward sensitivity and response to training. Behavioural performance on the low probability EEfRT trials indicating higher reward anticipation was significantly associated with daily reports of anticipated reward. Daily reported reward anticipation and consumption were also associated with the questionnaire measure of anhedonia. Our findings demonstrate that traditional anhedonia questionnaire measures, and a laboratory-based measure of an anhedonia component, can translate to reported experiences of reward in real-world contexts. We demonstrate the specificity of associations between the laboratory measure, designed to measure reward anticipation and not consumption, and real-world reports.
AB - Anhedonia, a reduction in pleasure in previously enjoyed activities, is a hallmark feature of depression and is also of transdiagnostic relevance to many psychiatric disorders. Treatment and measurement of anhedonia are significant challenges. We examine anhedonia components, combining experimental training, with multimodal anhedonia assessment, comprising standard questionnaire instruments, a widely-used behavioural task, and daily reports of reward experience. Seventy-eight adults (74.4% female) completed both positive and negative cognitive bias modification training, a laboratory-based behavioural measure of reward anticipation and motivation, the Effort-Expenditure for Reward Task (EEfRT), and seven days of experience sampling via their smartphones. We found no evidence that cognitive bias modification training affected choices to engage in the high-effort trials on the EEfRT task, theorised to reflect reward anticipation. We also did not find the expected associations between baseline measures of anhedonia and reward sensitivity and response to training. Behavioural performance on the low probability EEfRT trials indicating higher reward anticipation was significantly associated with daily reports of anticipated reward. Daily reported reward anticipation and consumption were also associated with the questionnaire measure of anhedonia. Our findings demonstrate that traditional anhedonia questionnaire measures, and a laboratory-based measure of an anhedonia component, can translate to reported experiences of reward in real-world contexts. We demonstrate the specificity of associations between the laboratory measure, designed to measure reward anticipation and not consumption, and real-world reports.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85210315025&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.brat.2024.104654
DO - 10.1016/j.brat.2024.104654
M3 - Article
C2 - 39616661
SN - 0005-7967
VL - 184
SP - 104654
JO - Behaviour Research and Therapy
JF - Behaviour Research and Therapy
M1 - 104654
ER -