Mapping the relationship between anxiety, anhedonia, and depression

Abstract

Introduction Anxiety and depression are often comorbid conditions, but there is uncertainty as to how this comorbidity develops. Thus, in three studies, we attempted to discern whether anhedonia may be a key linking factor between anxiety and depression. Methods Three studies asked participants about their symptoms of anxiety and depression: in Study 1, 109 participants completed measures of anxiety, depression, activity avoidance, and perceived enjoyability and importance of avoided activities; in Study 2, 747 participants completed measures of anhedonia, anxiety, depression, and defensiveness; in Study 3, 216 participants completed measures assessing the same constructs as in Study 2 at four time-points (ranging 11 months in span). Results In Study 1, symptoms of anxiety and depression were only positively related in individuals who relinquished potential enjoyment due to their anxiety-related avoidance; in Study 2, the indirect effect of anhedonia helped explained how anxiety symptoms imparted risk onto depressive symptoms; and in Study 3, anxiety led to anhedonia and then depression over time and anhedonia led to anxiety and then depression at both 5 and 11 months. Limitations The manuscript is limited by the use of a student sample in study 2, cross-sectional methods in studies 1 and 2, and reliance on self-ratings in studies 2 and 3. Conclusions Anxiety may devolve into depression through anhedonia, such that anxious individuals begin to lose pleasure in anxiety-provoking activities, which results in the development of other depressive symptoms.

Reduced dorsal striatal gray matter volume predicts implicit suicidal ideation in adolescents

“…Supporting this model is evidence that altered structure and function in the putamen and caudate are associated with symptoms of anhedonia and poorer impulse control in both non-clinical and clinical samples (Martinot et al ., 2001 ; Dalley and Roiser, 2015 ; Der-Avakian and Markou, 2016 ). For example several researchers have found that anhedonia is in association with SI independently of depression symptoms (Winer et al ., 2014 , 2017 ; Auerbach et al ., 2015 ; Ducasse et al ., 2017 ). Recently, Auerbach and colleagues reported that reduced putamen GMV in female adolescents prospectively predicted severity of anhedonia 3 months later (Auerbach et al ., 2017 ).…”

Network structure of anticipatory pleasure and risk features: Evidence from a large college sample

“…Anticipatory pleasure was found to be uncorrelated with the severity of anxiety symptoms in this study. It is possible that the reported correlation between anhedonia and anxiety symptoms severity may mainly lie in consummatory pleasure (Winer et al, ). Our finding is also in line with previous studies reporting that individuals with anxiety symptoms would anticipate more negative emotions but a similar level of positive emotion compared with healthy controls (Hoerger, Quirk, Chapman, & Duberstein, ; Wenze, Gunthert, Ahrens, & Taylor Bos, ).…”

“…Anhedonia is characterized by a reduced ability to experience pleasure and is a core symptom of schizophrenia (Strauss & Cohen, ) and depression (Yang et al, ). It is also reported in autism spectrum disorders (ASD; Chevallier, Grezes, Molesworth, Berthoz, & Happe, ; Novacek, Gooding, & Pflum, ) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD; Abramovitch, Pizzagalli, Reuman, & Wilhelm, ), and is associated with anxiety symptoms (Winer et al, ).…”

Repenser la comorbidité psychiatrique : Une revue conceptuelle au départ de la comordibité anxio-dépressive

“…De plus, certaines études (par exemple, Khazanov & Ruscio, 2016 ;Kotov et al, 2010) remettent en question le caractère spécifique au trouble dépressif eu égard au manque d'affects positifs. En effet, bien que la méta-analyse de Khazanov et Ruscio (2016) En effet, bien qu'une série d'études (par exemple, Starr & Davila, 2012;Winer et al, 2017) suggère que l'anxiété précéderait la dépression, selon Klenk et collègues (2011), tant l'anxiété que la dépression pourraient jouer un rôle dans le déclenchement du trouble anxio-dépressif. Par ailleurs, ce modèle souligne l'importance des processus attentionnels, déjà largement développés dans la littérature (par exemple, Richards et al, 2014;Wermes et al, 2018), en soutenant le rôle central de l'hypervigilance dans la cascade d'éléments intervenant lors du déclenchement du trouble.…”

“…Alors que certaines approches considèrent que l'anxiété précéderait la dépression (par exemple, Klenk et al, 2011;Price et al, 2016;Winer et al, 2017), d'autres considèrent que la dépression précèderait l'anxiété (par exemple, Klenk et al, 2011), ou que ces deux troubles apparaitraient simultanément (Cramer et al, 2010). A la lumière de la littérature actuelle, la question de la temporalité de la comorbidité est loin d'être résolue.…”