Beyond pleasure: Effects of depression, anhedonia, and COVID-19 stress on hedonic and eudaimonic reward functioning

ABSTRACT

Reward processing encompasses multiple psychological processes, including appraisals of the incentive value of a reward (reward valuation), behavioral motivation to earn it (reward wanting), and affective responses to its receipt (reward liking). Disruptions in reward processing and the vulnerability of this system to chronic stress are argued to contribute to the development of a depressive disorder and anhedonia specifically. However, research has been limited to examining responses to "hedonic" rewards as the study of "eudaimonic" reward processing presents methodological challenges. Addressing these aims, this study developed the Hedonic and Eudaimonic Incentive Delay Task (HEID) for a comprehensive assessment of reward processing across multiple reward domains, including hedonic (HE), eudaimonic (EU), and neutral-intrinsic (NT-I) rewards. The central objectives were to examine the effects of (1) depression and anhedonia-related symptoms (e.g., wellbeing, anhedonia), (2) chronic stress exposure, using the COVID-19 pandemic and case fatality rates (CFR) as objective stress measures, and (3) interventions, such as the cultivation of dispositional mindfulness and self-affirmation, on reward processing across multiple reward domains. Two samples of participants were recruited, before (N = 180) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 189), completing self-report measures of depression, anhedonia, wellbeing, and mindfulness, and the HEID. Participants during COVID-19 were also randomly assigned to one of three induction conditions (Stressor Salience, Self-Affirmation, Control) to investigate stress and intervention effects. Consistent with hypotheses, (1) depression and anhedonia were associated with impaired reward processing;however, depression was more robustly associated with impairments in reward wanting, particularly the wanting of EU rewards, while reward valuation and liking were uniquely implicated in anhedonia. Chronic stress hypotheses (2) were partially supported, such that COVID-19 was associated with blunted reward wanting across reward domains (particularly NT-I), but not reward valuation and liking. Consistent with theory (3), self-affirmation helped buffer the effects of stress on reward wanting, but only at high CFR, while dispositional mindfulness was associated with greater wellbeing during COVID-19 by virtue of enhanced reward valuation and liking. This study provides new insights into reward pathways underlying stress, depression, and wellbeing/anhedonia, shedding light on disruptions to target in treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)