Anhedonic Depressive Symptoms Research Articles

Changes in tripartite dimensions of anxiety and depression in emerging adults before and during COVID-19

Objective Using the tripartite model of anxiety and depression, we examined general distress (common to anxiety/depression), anxious arousal (uniquely anxiety), and anhedonic depression (uniquely depressive) symptoms before and during the pandemic in emerging adults, who may experience higher levels of distress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic relative to others. Participants Emerging adults (n = 89, 53% White) ages 18-24, participated in four data waves (Baseline: Fall 2017-Fall 2018; January 2020; July 2020; January 2021). Methods We estimated covariance pattern models with various patterns of residual correlation, (selecting the best-fitting structure) and patterns of change (i.e., stable, linear, and quadratic). Results Scores in all tripartite dimensions were elevated at baseline; anxious arousal remained elevated, while depression-specific symptoms decreased over time. Conclusions Findings contribute to a fine-grained approach to understanding emotional distress relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, proving potentially useful in conceptualizing the mental health of emerging adults in relation to disruptive life events.

Anhedonia severity mediates the relationship between attentional networks recruitment and emotional blunting during music listening

Emotion studies have commonly reported impaired emotional processing in individuals with heightened anhedonic depressive symptoms, as typically measured by collecting single subjective ratings for a given emotional cue. However, the interindividual variation in moment-to-moment emotional reactivity, and associated time-varying brain networks recruitment as emotions are unfolding, remains unclear. In this study, we filled this gap by using the unique temporal characteristics of music to investigate behavioural and brain network dynamics as a function of anhedonic depressive symptoms severity. Thirty-one neurotypical participants aged 18–30 years completed anhedonic depression questionnaires and then continuously rated happy, neutral and sad pieces of music whilst undergoing MRI scanning. Using a unique combination of dynamic approaches to behavioural (i.e., emotion dynamics) and fMRI (i.e., leading eigenvector dynamics analysis; LEiDA) data analysis, we found that participants higher in anhedonic depressive symptoms exhibited increased recruitment of attentional networks and blunted emotional response to both happy and sad musical excerpts. Anhedonic depression mediated the relationship between attentional networks recruitment and emotional blunting, and the elevated recruitment of attentional networks during emotional pieces of music carried over into subsequent neutral music. Future studies are needed to investigate whether these findings could be generalised to a clinical population (i.e., major depressive disorder).

Leadership Styles Experienced During Military Service Predict Later Anhedonic Depressive Symptoms andSelf-Efficacy inVeterans With Alcohol Use Disorder.

Lifetime and past-year alcohol use disorder (AUD) prevalence is significantly higher in US Armed Services Veterans than in non-veterans across adulthood. This study examined the associations of perceived transformational leadership styles (TLS) experienced during military service and anhedonic depression and self-efficacy related to confidence to abstain or reduce alcohol consumption in Veterans seeking treatment for AUD. The ramifications of perceived leadership styles on multiple aspects of follower psychiatric functioning, including depressive and PTSD symptomatology, during and after military service, may be substantial and enduring. Higher anhedonic depression and lower abstinence self-efficacy are related to increased risk of relapse after treatment. We predicted Veterans, in treatment for AUD, who reported higher perceived levels of transformational leadership during military service, demonstrate lower anhedonic depressive symptoms and higher alcohol abstinence self-efficacy. Veterans with AUD (n = 60; 50 ± 14 years of age) were recruited from residential treatment at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. All procedures were approved by the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University institutional review boards. A series of mediation analyses were completed with The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire measures of TLS (average across leadership measures [transformational leadership average; TLS average]) as predictor and the Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale, Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire, anhedonic depression subscale, as dependent measures. PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 score was tested as a mediator variable. Higher reported perceived TLS average during military service was significantly related to lower anhedonic depressive symptoms. Higher TLS average was related to higher self-efficacy to resist alcohol use in contexts involving experience of physical issues and withdrawal/cravings and urges. These relationships were not mediated by PTSD symptomatology or duration of military service, age, education, time since military service, military branch, combat exposure, or current psychiatric diagnosis. The significant associations of perceived TLS during military service with anhedonic depression and alcohol use self-efficacy are clinically relevant because these measures are associated with relapse risk after AUD treatment. Further study of the implications of perceived TLS during military service for AUD and other substance use disorder treatment outcome is warranted in Veterans.

Parental Symptoms of Anhedonia, Parenting, and Youth Outcomes: A Multi-Method, Multi-Informant Investigation.

Parental depression is a well-established risk factor for youth psychopathology; however, depression is highly heterogeneous, and different parental symptom profiles may be differentially associated with risk mechanisms and youth psychopathology outcomes. Thus, this study examined associations between parental anhedonic symptoms of depression, specifically, and (1) parenting and (2) youth outcomes using a multi-method, multi-informant approach. Participants included 595 parents (89% mothers) and youth (ages 8-16; M[SD] = 12.07[2.39]). Regression analyses indicated that parental self-reported anhedonic symptoms at baseline demonstrated relatively specific prospective associations with chronic parent-child stress assessed using contextual stress interview methods, as well as youth self-reported depressive symptoms at 18-month follow-up. Findings also indicated concurrent associations between parental anhedonic symptoms and observed parental criticism, conflict, and responsiveness in the context of a 5-min discussion task, as well as parent self-reported monitoring/supervision, although results were no longer significant after controlling for parental co-occurring non-anhedonic depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that parental anhedonic symptoms may contribute to relatively unique reductions in the quality of the parent-child relationship and may be a particularly salient risk factor for youth depression.

The effects of perceived stress and anhedonic depression on mnemonic similarity task performance

Previous research has demonstrated hippocampal alterations in individuals experiencing elevated stress. The Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST) is a hippocampal-dependent task sensitive to age-related hippocampal decline, but it is unknown how performance on this task is related to one’s experience of daily stress. We conducted separate discovery and replication analyses in 510 participants who completed the MST across four different Mechanical Turk studies. We hypothesized that higher scores on the Perceived Stress Scale would be associated with poorer discrimination of “lure” items from previously seen targets – a behavioral index of pattern separation – but not with recognition memory. The zero-order relationship between perceived stress and lure discrimination was not significant in the discovery or replication sample. Exploratory analyses involving anhedonic depression symptoms (from the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire) revealed a robust perceived stress*anhedonic depression interaction in the discovery sample that was confirmed in the replication sample. In both samples, individuals with low but not high anhedonic depression symptoms showed an inverse association between perceived stress and lure discrimination ability. Contrary to hypotheses, a similar interaction was observed for recognition memory. The novel association between perceived stress and behavioral pattern separation suggests a candidate behavioral process associated with stress-related hippocampal deficits. The specificity of this effect for individuals with low anhedonic depression symptoms – and the lack of behavioral specificity – highlight the need for additional research to unpack the clinical and neurobiological significance of these findings.

Effect of Positive Mental Imagery Stimuli on Anhedonic Depressive Symptoms

This study aimed to investigate the effect of the intervention of positive mental imagery on anhedonia and the underlying reward mechanism in depression, and to explore the sustainability of the impact of the intervention following stress induction. Participants reporting anhedonic depressive symptoms (N=54) were randomly assigned to either a positive mental imagery condition or a verbalization condition, the former utilizing positive imagery stimuli only, and the latter utilizing language-based on meaning. Participants in both the conditions completed a computerized picture-word task for imagery generation and mental arithmetic stress task for stress induction. The results showed that both intervention conditions significantly reduced anhedonia and negative affect and that the mental imagery intervention was not superior to verbalization intervention. After stress induction, there was no significant difference between the two conditions in terms of the sustainability of the impact of the intervention on mood, reward subcomponents, and anhedonia. These findings provide preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of positive mental imagery in improving anhedonia. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the importance of repetitive imagery intervention due to the unsustainable impact of brief interventions after stress induction.

Psychological Predictors of Precautionary Behaviors in Response to COVID-19: A Structural Model.

The first lines of defense during an epidemic are behavioral interventions, including stay-at-home measures or precautionary health training, aimed at reducing contact and disease transmission. Examining the psychosocial variables that may lead to greater adoption of such precautionary behaviors is critical. The present study examines predictors of precautionary practices against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 709 Mexican participants from 24 states. The study was conducted via online questionnaire between the end of March and the beginning of April 2020, when the pandemic response was in its initial stages in Mexico. The instrument included demographic items, as well as scales assessing COVID-19-resembling symptoms, empathy, impulsivity, anhedonic depression, general health practices, alcohol consumption, and COVID-19-associated precautionary behaviors. Most participants reported adopting limited social distancing or other precautionary behaviors against COVID-19. The results of a structural equation model demonstrated that the presence of COVID-19 symptoms was related to impulsivity and general health behaviors. However, no direct association between precautionary behaviors and the presence of COVID-19 symptoms was found. In turn, precautionary behaviors were more prevalent among participants who reported higher empathy and general health behaviors and were inhibited indirectly by impulsivity via alcohol consumption. Furthermore, the model suggests that anhedonic depression symptoms have a negative indirect effect on precautionary behaviors via general health behaviors. Finally, impulsivity showed a negative direct effect on general health behavior. These results highlight the role that general physical health and mental health play on precautionary behavior and the critical importance of addressing issues such as depression, general health behaviors, and impulsivity in promoting safe actions and the protection of self and others.

What's in a Face? Amygdalar Sensitivity to an Emotional Threatening Faces Task and Transdiagnostic Internalizing Disorder Symptoms in Participants Receiving Attention Bias Modification Training.

Altered amygdala activation in response to the emotional matching faces (EMF) task, a task thought to reflect implicit emotion detection and reactivity, has been found in some patients with internalizing disorders; mixed findings from the EMF suggest individual differences (within and/or across diagnoses) that may be important to consider. Attention Bias Modification (ABM), a mechanistic attention-targeting intervention, has demonstrated efficacy in treatment of internalizing disorders. Individual differences in neural activation to a relatively attention-independent task, such as the EMF, could reveal novel neural substrates relevant in ABM's transdiagnostic effects, such as the brain's generalized threat reactivity capacity. In a sample of clinically anxious patients randomized to ABM (n = 43) or sham training (n = 18), we measured fMRI activation patterns during the EMF and related them to measures of transdiagnostic internalizing symptoms (i.e., anxious arousal, general distress, anhedonic depression, and general depressive symptoms). Lower baseline right amygdala activation to negative (fearful/angry) faces, relative to shapes, predicted greater pre-to-post reduction in general depression symptoms in ABM-randomized patients. Greater increases in bilateral amygdalae activation from pre-to-post ABM were associated with greater reductions in general distress, anhedonic depression, and general depression symptoms. ABM may lead to greater improvement in depressive symptoms in individuals exhibiting blunted baseline amygdalar responses to the EMF task, potentially by enhancing neural-level discrimination between negative and unambiguously neutral stimuli. Convergently, longitudinal increases in amygdala reactivity from pre-to-post-ABM may be associated with greater improvement in depression, possibly secondary to improved neural discrimination of threat and/or decreased neurophysiological threat avoidance in these specific patients.

Self-critical perfectionism and lower mindfulness and self-compassion predict anxious and depressive symptoms over two years

This study of 124 community adults examined whether perfectionism interacts with mindfulness and self-compassion to predict anxiety and depressive symptoms over two years. Participants completed measures of self-critical (SC) and personal standards (PS) higher-order dimensions of perfectionism at Time 1; mindfulness and self-compassion domains and facets at Time 2 one year later; and general distress (i.e., shared between depression and anxiety), anxious arousal, and anhedonic depressive symptoms at Time 1, Time 2, and Time 3 two years after baseline. In contrast to PS, SC perfectionism was associated with lower mindfulness and self-compassion domains and facets. Hierarchical regression analyses of moderator effects demonstrated that individuals with higher Time 1 SC perfectionism and lower Time 2 domain mindfulness or self-compassion had higher Time 3 general distress symptoms than others, adjusting for the effects of Time 1 and Time 2 symptoms. SC perfectionism also interacted with specific facets of mindfulness (i.e., observing, nonreactivity) and self-compassion (i.e., self-kindness, mindfulness, over-identification) to predict Time 3 general distress and/or anxious arousal symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of fostering mindfulness and self-compassion to reduce vulnerability to anxious and depressive symptoms in individuals with higher SC perfectionism.

Estradiol Fluctuation, Sensitivity to Stress, and Depressive Symptoms in the Menopause Transition: A Pilot Study.

The menopause transition is associated with an increased risk of depressed mood. Preliminary evidence suggests that increased sensitivity to psychosocial stress, triggered by exaggerated perimenopausal estradiol fluctuation, may play a role. However, accurately quantifying estradiol fluctuation while minimizing participant burden has posed a methodological challenge in the field. The current pilot project aimed to test the feasibility of capturing perimenopausal estradiol fluctuation via 12 weekly measurements of estrone-3-glucuronide (E1G), a urinary metabolite of estradiol, using participant-collected urine samples in 15 euthymic perimenopausal women ages 45–55 years. Furthermore, it aimed to correlate E1G fluctuation (standard deviation across the 12 E1G measurements) with weekly mood and cardiovascular, salivary cortisol, and subjective emotional responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) at weeks 4, 8, and 12. Protocol acceptability and adherence was high; furthermore, E1G fluctuation was positively associated with anhedonic depressive symptoms and weekly negative affect. E1G fluctuation was also associated with increased heart rate throughout the TSST as well as higher levels of rejection, anger, and sadness. E1G fluctuation was not significantly associated with TSST blood pressure or cortisol levels. This study suggests a feasible method of assessing estradiol fluctuation in the menopause transition and provides support for the hypothesis that perimenopausal estradiol fluctuation increases sensitivity to psychosocial stress and vulnerability to depressed mood.

A brief mindfulness intervention reduces depression, increases nonjudgment, and speeds processing of emotional and neutral stimuli

Anxiety and mood disorders are common in university students but most students are not receiving treatment. The university setting presents a unique opportunity to provide interventions for at-risk students who may not otherwise seek services. Mindfulness interventions have been successfully adapted for use with individuals reporting symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other forms of psychological distress. The present quasi-experimental study addressed whether non-treatment-seeking university students screened for moderate-to-high levels of distress would benefit from a brief mindfulness intervention relative to a control group. Participants completed self-report measures of depression, anxiety, distress, and mindfulness as well as a dot-probe measure of processing of emotional and neutral information before and after a mindfulness or no-intervention control group. As expected, anhedonic depression symptoms and judging of experiences decreased in the mindfulness but not control group. Also consistent with prediction, the mindfulness group showed reaction time evidence of “even-handed” facilitated processing of all stimuli (pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant) within a dot-probe task from pre- to post-intervention. Psychological distress, anxious arousal, and worry decreased, and several facets of self-reported mindfulness increased in both groups. Results indicate that a brief mindfulness intervention may be helpful for non-treatment-seeking university students in decreasing anhedonic depression symptoms, judgment of experiences, and encouraging facilitated processing of emotional and neutral information. Implications for using brief mindfulness interventions in early intervention and prevention efforts with university students are discussed.

Learning and Choice in Mood Disorders: Searching for the Computational Parameters of Anhedonia.

Computational approaches are increasingly being used to model behavioral and neural processes in mood and anxiety disorders. Here we explore the extent to which the parameters of popular learning and decision-making models are implicated in anhedonic symptoms of major depression. We first highlight the parameters of reinforcement learning that have been implicated in anhedonia, focusing, in particular, on the role that choice variability (i.e., “temperature”) may play in explaining heterogeneity across previous findings. We then turn to neuroimaging findings implicating attenuated ventral striatum response in anhedonic responses and discuss possible causes of the heterogeneity in the literature. Taken together, the reviewed findings highlight the potential of the computational approach in teasing apart the observed heterogeneity in both behavioral and functional imaging results. Nevertheless, considerable challenges remain, and we conclude with five unresolved questions that seek to address issues highlighted by the reviewed data.

Pre-ejection period reactivity to reward is associated with anhedonic symptoms of depression among adolescents.

Pre-ejection period (PEP) reactivity to reward has been posited as a specific index of behavioral approach and incentive motivation, suggesting it might be uniquely associated with the affective and motivational deficits of anhedonia. This study evaluated PEP reactivity to a reward task as a predictor of depressive symptoms among adolescents, examining global depressive symptoms as well as specific anhedonic and nonanhedonic symptoms clusters. Participants included 76 adolescents, ages 11-15 years (52% female). This study found marginal support for an association between PEP reactivity to reward and concurrent anhedonia symptoms, but no association with nonanhedonic or the global scale. Findings are discussed in terms of potential associations between peripheral psychophysiological measures and dopaminergic functioning and also the utility of this measure for future research on anhedonia.

“Self-critical perfectionism and depressive and anxious symptoms over 4 years: The mediating role of daily stress reactivity”: Correction to Mandel et al. (2015).

Reports an error in "Self-critical perfectionism and depressive and anxious symptoms over 4 years: The mediating role of daily stress reactivity" by Tobey Mandel, David M. Dunkley and Molly Moroz (Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2015[Oct], Vol 62[4], 703-717). In the article, there were errors in Table 1. The corrected version of Table 1 appears in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2015-32534-001.) This study of 150 community adults examined heightened emotional reactivity to daily stress as a mediator in the relationships between self-critical (SC) perfectionism and depressive and anxious symptoms over a period of 4 years. Participants completed questionnaires assessing: perfectionism dimensions, general depressive symptoms (i.e., shared with anxiety), specific depressive symptoms (i.e., anhedonia), general anxious symptoms (i.e., shared with depression), and specific anxious symptoms (i.e., somatic anxious arousal) at Time 1; daily stress and affect (e.g., sadness, negative affect) for 14 consecutive days at Month 6 and Year 3; and depressive and anxious symptoms at Year 4. Path analyses indicated that SC perfectionism predicted daily stress-sadness reactivity (i.e., greater increases in sadness in response to increases in stress) across Month 6 and Year 3, which in turn explained why individuals with higher SC perfectionism had more general depressive symptoms, anhedonic depressive symptoms, and general anxious symptoms, respectively, 4 years later. In contrast, daily reactivity to stress with negative affect did not mediate the prospective relation between SC perfectionism and anhedonic depressive symptoms. Findings also demonstrated that higher mean levels of daily stress did not mediate the relationship between SC perfectionism and depressive and anxious symptoms 4 years later. These findings highlight the importance of targeting enduring heightened stress reactivity in order to reduce SC perfectionists' vulnerability to depressive and anxious symptoms over the long term. (PsycINFO Database Record

Anhedonic symptoms of depression are linked to reduced motivation to obtain a reward

People with depression report reduced motivation to obtain a reward and reduced affective responses to reward. However, studies focusing on the relation between anhedonia and deficits in reward processing are scarce. Furthermore, studies investigating wanting through cardiovascular reactivity and liking through facial electromyography in human beings are also scarce. In this study, we used the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale score as a continuous predictor variable of anhedonia and we manipulated two within-person conditions (wanting vs. liking). Participants earned money if their performance on a memory task exceeded a particular standard. As expected, effort-related cardiovascular reactivity and self-reports during the anticipatory phase were lower for participants scoring high on anhedonia. Moreover, task performance outcomes were worse for highly anhedonic participants. However, the zygomaticus major muscle’s activity during the consummatory phase was unrelated to the anhedonia score. The present study underlines the importance of anhedonic symptoms, particularly in reduced anticipatory motivation to obtain a reward.

Pain-related anxiety in relation to anxiety and depression among persons living with HIV/AIDS

ABSTRACTPersons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) experience clinically significant pain as a result of HIV and such pain is often related to increased levels of anxiety/depression. Pain-related anxiety has been identified as a mechanism in the onset and progression of pain experience and associated affective distress. However, there has not been empirical study of pain-related anxiety in relation to affective processes among PLHA. To address this gap, hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted using SPSS v.21 to examine pain-related anxiety (as measured using the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale) in relation to anxiety and depressive symptoms (as measured using the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire) among 93 PLHA (10.8% female; Mean age = 49.63, SD = 8.89). Pain-related anxiety was significantly related to anxious arousal symptoms (β = .43) and anhedonic depressive symptoms (β = .25); effects were evident beyond the variance accounted for by CD4 count, race, sex, income level, and current level of bodily pain. The present results suggest that pain-related anxiety may play a role in the experience of anxiety and depressive symptoms among PLHA.

Risk factors for incident depression in patients at first acute coronary syndrome

The association between depression and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is well-established and the first seems to impact meaningfully on cardiac prognosis. Nonetheless only a few studies have evaluated the relationship between incident depression, defined as new cases in patients with no history of depression, and ACS. Therefore the aim of this study is to analyse the risk factors of incident depression in a sample of patients who were presenting their first ACS. 304 consecutive patients were recruited. The presence of major (MD) and minor (md) depression was assessed with the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD), whereas its severity was evaluated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Evaluations were collected both at baseline and at 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12 month follow ups. Out of 304 subjects (80.6% males), MD was diagnosed in 15 (4.9%) and md in 25 patients (8.2%). At baseline risk factors for a post-ACS depressive disorder were being women (MD only), widowed (md only) and having mild anhedonic depressive symptoms few days after the ACS. Clinicians should keep in mind these variables when facing a patient at his/her first ACS, given the detrimental effect of depression on cardiac prognosis.

Motivational systems and autonomic functioning: Overlapping and differential contributions to anhedonic depression and anxious arousal

This study examined multiple aspects of temperament in order to better understand the distinction and overlap between anxious and depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. Temperament was measured at the motivational level via self-reported behavioral inhibition (BI) and behavioral activation (BA) and at the physiological level via autonomic functioning [i.e., skin conductance levels (SCL) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)]. Emerging adults (N = 170) reported on their BI and BA; SCL and RSA baseline scores were averaged during a 6-min resting period. Results revealed that high RSA was associated with fewer anhedonic depressive symptoms independent of BI and BA, whereas SCL contributed to anhedonic depressive symptoms through a three-way interaction with BI and BA. Specifically, high SCL exacerbated anhedonic depressive symptoms for individuals exhibiting profiles of high BI/low BA and low BI/high BA. This study highlights the importance of examining the unique interactions between psychophysiological and self-report measures of temperament when studying the development of internalizing symptoms in emerging adulthood.

Self-critical perfectionism and depressive and anxious symptoms over 4 years: The mediating role of daily stress reactivity.

This study of 150 community adults examined heightened emotional reactivity to daily stress as a mediator in the relationships between self-critical (SC) perfectionism and depressive and anxious symptoms over a period of 4 years. Participants completed questionnaires assessing: perfectionism dimensions, general depressive symptoms (i.e., shared with anxiety), specific depressive symptoms (i.e., anhedonia), general anxious symptoms (i.e., shared with depression), and specific anxious symptoms (i.e., somatic anxious arousal) at Time 1; daily stress and affect (e.g., sadness, negative affect) for 14 consecutive days at Month 6 and Year 3; and depressive and anxious symptoms at Year 4. Path analyses indicated that SC perfectionism predicted daily stress-sadness reactivity (i.e., greater increases in sadness in response to increases in stress) across Month 6 and Year 3, which in turn explained why individuals with higher SC perfectionism had more general depressive symptoms, anhedonic depressive symptoms, and general anxious symptoms, respectively, 4 years later. In contrast, daily reactivity to stress with negative affect did not mediate the prospective relation between SC perfectionism and anhedonic depressive symptoms. Findings also demonstrated that higher mean levels of daily stress did not mediate the relationship between SC perfectionism and depressive and anxious symptoms 4 years later. These findings highlight the importance of targeting enduring heightened stress reactivity in order to reduce SC perfectionists' vulnerability to depressive and anxious symptoms over the long term.

Effort Deficits and Depression: The Influence of Anhedonic Depressive Symptoms on Cardiac Autonomic Activity During a Mental Challenge.

Motivational approaches to depression emphasize the role of dysfunctional motivational dynamics, particularly diminished reward and incentive processes associated with anhedonia. A study examined how anhedonic depressive symptoms, measured continuously across a wide range of severity, influenced the physiological mobilization of effort during a cognitive task. Using motivational intensity theory as a guide, we expected that the diminished incentive value associated with anhedonic depressive symptoms would reduce effort during a "do your best" challenge (also known as an unfixed or self-paced challenge), in which effort is a function of the value of achieving the task's goal. Using impedance cardiography, two cardiac autonomic responses were assessed: pre-ejection period (PEP), a measure of sympathetic activity and our primary measure of interest, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of parasympathetic activity. As expected, PEP slowed from baseline to task as anhedonic depressive symptoms increased (as measured with the DASS Depression scale), indicating diminished effort-related sympathetic activity. No significant effects appeared for RSA. The findings support motivational intensity theory as a translational model of effort processes in depression and clarify some inconsistent effects of depressive symptoms on effort-related physiology found in past work.