Anhedonia in schizophrenia: a review of assessment strategies

Schizophr Bull. 2006 Apr;32(2):259-73. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbj009. Epub 2005 Oct 12.

Abstract

Anhedonia, the diminished capacity to experience pleasant emotions, is a common, treatment-resistant feature of schizophrenia that is often included among the negative symptoms of this disorder. This selective review describes the 3 most commonly used approaches to assess anhedonia in schizophrenia: interview-based measures, self-report trait questionnaires, and laboratory-based assessments of emotional experience. For each assessment approach, psychometric properties, relationships to other symptoms and features of schizophrenia, and relationships with the other assessment approaches are evaluated. It is concluded that anhedonia can be reliably assessed and constitutes a distinctive, clinically important aspect of schizophrenia that should be included in a comprehensive evaluation of negative symptoms. Current efforts to define more precisely the nature of the hedonic deficit in schizophrenia are discussed, and recommendations for optimal assessment of anhedonia in clinical trials of novel treatments for negative symptoms are provided.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Expressed Emotion*
  • Humans
  • Interview, Psychological
  • Mood Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Mood Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Psychometrics
  • Schizophrenia / epidemiology*
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Social Behavior*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Time Factors