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Project

Micro-mechanisms of anhedonia, and its consequences for future mental health

Anhedonia, one of the two core symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), is defined as the loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities that were previously enjoyed (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Although this definition fits clinicians’ needs, scientifically, we know very little about anhedonia.

So far, research indicated that nearly 1 in 5 individuals experience at least one episode of anhedonia during adolescence (Bennik, Nederhof, Ormel, & Oldehinkel, 2014); that the majority of adolescents’ first depressive episode includes anhedonia (Lewinsohn, Pettit, Joiner, & Seeley, 2003); and that anhedonia is involved in many other psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder, substance use disorders, eating disorders, and schizophrenia. Given its high prevalence, its transdiagnostic nature, and its prominent role in MDD diagnosis, we urgently need prevention and intervention strategies that target anhedonia. A major bottleneck for the development of such strategies, however, is the lack of understanding of emotion dynamic processes that underlie anhedonia.

The underlying mechanistic emotional processes could be captured by tracking or sampling mood and emotions repeatedly in people’s daily lives. This experience-sampling method has been widely used, but, instead of using paper and pencil can now be carried out using recent smartphone technologies. In this project, we propose to use data obtained by such methods and recent technologies to gain further insight into micro-mechanisms of anhedonia, and its consequences for future mental health.

Date:1 Jan 2018 →  31 Dec 2018
Keywords:anhedonia
Disciplines:Applied psychology