Data supporting 'Anhedonia and its subcomponent processes predict symptoms of clinical depression and loneliness in young people'

Anhedonia is a core symptom of depression and is the reduced interest and pleasure in normally rewarding experiences. Anhedonia is considered a risk factor for future episodes of depression. Anhedonia is implicated in social withdrawal and, therefore, could lead to loneliness, another risk factor for depression. The aim of this study was to examine how anhedonia and its subcomponents relate to depression and loneliness symptoms in young people over time.

Participants included young people (N = 275) aged 17-25 years (M = 20.53, SD = 2.17), with a range of depression symptoms [Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ)] and were recruited from local schools and the student population via the School of Psychology research panel, online advertisements, and posters.

All participants completed the Anhedonia Scale for Adolescents (ASA), which has three subscales: 1) Enjoyment, Excitement, and Emotional Flattening (negatively framed); 2) Enthusiasm, Connection, and Purpose (positively framed); and 3) Effort, Motivation, and Drive (negatively framed), and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Participants were reimbursed for their time and effort by being entered into a draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. Participants who consented to take part in the follow-up phase were contacted via email ~four months after the initial data collection. Of these participants, 172 provided follow-up data. To reimburse their effort at four four-month follow up, we entered participants into a further draw for one of five £50 Amazon vouchers. 103 participants could not be contacted for follow-up assessment, had discontinued the study, or provided incomplete data. We examined the relationships between anhedonia, loneliness, and depression with regression analyses.

Our results confirm the association between anhedonia symptoms and depression and loneliness. Our results also show that anhedonia measured with the ASA, a novel anhedonia questionnaire, predicts increases in depression over time and potentially loneliness over time too. This work confirms anhedonia as an important target for treatment interventions for depression. Further, knowing the specific anhedonia sub-components that predict increases in depression and loneliness can guide more tailored anhedonia treatment development.

快感缺失（Anhedonia）是抑郁症的核心症状，指个体对常规奖励性体验的兴趣与愉悦感减退。快感缺失被视为未来抑郁发作的风险因素，且与社交退缩存在关联，进而可能引发孤独感——而孤独感本身也是抑郁的另一风险因素。本研究旨在探究快感缺失及其亚成分在长期内与青年群体抑郁及孤独症状的关联。

本研究的参与者为17至25岁的青年群体（N=275，平均年龄M=20.53，标准差SD=2.17），其抑郁症状水平存在差异，相关评估采用情绪与感受问卷（Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, MFQ）完成，招募渠道涵盖当地学校、心理学系研究面板的学生群体、线上广告及海报。

所有参与者完成了青少年快感缺失量表（Anhedonia Scale for Adolescents, ASA），该量表包含三个亚量表：1）愉悦感、兴奋感与情感平淡（反向计分）；2）热情、联结感与目标感（正向计分）；3）努力程度、动机与驱动力（反向计分），同时还完成了UCLA孤独量表（UCLA Loneliness Scale）。参与者可获得参与报酬：可参与抽奖赢取面值50英镑的亚马逊礼品卡。

同意参与后续随访的参与者在初始数据收集约4个月后通过邮件被联系。其中172名参与者提供了随访数据。为感谢其在4个月随访阶段的参与，研究者为其增设了一次抽奖机会，奖品为5张面值50英镑的亚马逊礼品卡。另有103名参与者无法被联系参与随访、已退出研究或提供了不完整数据。本研究采用回归分析检验了快感缺失、孤独感与抑郁症状之间的关联。

研究结果证实了快感缺失症状与抑郁、孤独感之间的关联。同时，采用新型快感缺失问卷ASA测得的快感缺失水平，可预测随时间推移抑郁症状的加重，也可能预测孤独感的增长。本研究证实快感缺失可作为抑郁治疗干预的重要靶点。此外，明确可预测抑郁与孤独症状加重的特定快感缺失亚成分，可为定制化的快感缺失治疗方案开发提供指导。