Predicting anhedonia using naturalistic and lab-based measures of reward

Predicting anhedonia using naturalistic and lab-based measures of reward

July 15, 2025

Depression is one of the most common mental health challenges affecting young people, with symptoms often emerging and intensifying during the critical transition from adolescence into young adulthood. Among these symptoms, anhedonia, the reduced ability to feel pleasure or interest in activities, has gained attention as a particularly serious and understudied issue. Anhedonia not only increases risk for depression and poor treatment outcomes but is also strongly linked to greater suicidal thoughts and behaviours. Consequently, there is a critical need to identify processes that predict individual differences in anhedonia risk and maintenance.

Funded by the Clinician Scientist-New Investigator Grant from Singapore’s National Medical Research Council to Assistant Professor Kean J. Hsu (NUS Psychology), Dr. Hsu will lead a team of investigators from Singapore and the UK, including Concurrent Degree Program graduate student Justina Tan Sue Ching (NUS Psychology), recent NUS psychology graduate Qingyi Huang, and Professor Argyris Stringaris (University College London Psychiatry), and will receive mentorship from Prof Roger Ho (NUS Psychological Medicine). Running until 2027, ‘Predicting Anhedonia Using Naturalistic and Lab-Based Measures of Reward’ investigates how different types of reward-related processes such as the anticipation or enjoyment of positive experiences contribute to the development and persistence of anhedonia in late adolescents and young adults. The study will recruit up to 250 young adults aged 18 to 24 in Singapore, spanning a broad spectrum of anhedonia symptom severity. Using both lab-based tasks (e.g. social reward anticipation) and naturalistic assessments (e.g. academic achievement and study behaviour), the team will track participants over six months. Combining self-report, behavioural, and longitudinal data with machine learning models, the project seeks to pinpoint which reward-related processes most robustly predict worsening or improvement in anhedonia and related symptoms over time.

This project has four key aims. First, it seeks to identify which reward-related processes predict the development and maintenance of anhedonia and depression in adolescents transitioning into adulthood, specifically distinguishing between reward anticipation and reward consumption. Next, it aims to examine how these processes function across both laboratory and naturalistic contexts through the assessment of social rewards in lab-based tasks and academic rewards in real-world settings such as grade anticipation and receipt. Third, it will use data-driven approaches such as machine learning algorithms to determine which aspects of reward processing most robustly predict individual differences in anhedonia severity over a six-month follow-up period. Finally, the project aims to generate empirical evidence that can support early identification and intervention efforts by pinpointing measurable reward-related markers that signal increased risk for persistent anhedonia and related forms of psychopathology.

This research fills a critical gap in the literature by directly studying anhedonia, rather than using broad depression diagnoses as a proxy, and by incorporating both experimental and real-world data over time. Existing studies have been largely cross-sectional, focused on clinical populations, and restricted to limited reward types such as money or food. This study’s comprehensive and longitudinal design allows for a more nuanced and ecologically valid understanding of how reward dysfunction unfolds. Findings from this project will provide valuable insights for clinicians, educators, and researchers by identifying early psychological risk markers and potential intervention targets, supporting the development of more tailored and effective treatments for young people experiencing anhedonia and related symptoms.

Photo: iStock/Nansan Houn