We developed the Multidimensional Adolescence Anhedonia Scale (MAAS), a novel measure designed to assess not only consummatory and anticipatory, but also recall anhedonia in adolescents. In Study 1 (n = 623; Mage = 19 years), an initial item pool was tested across two subsamples of older adolescents. After exploring a 24-item version in Subsample A (n = 311), we confirmed its structure and developed a brief version in Subsample B (n = 312). This structure was further confirmed and validated in a younger adolescent sample (Study 2; n = 375; Mage = 16 years) who completed items at baseline and 6 months later. Across samples and versions of the measure, a three-factor solution with subscales reflecting consummatory, anticipatory, and recall anhedonia best fit the data. Our measure demonstrated internal consistency and test-retest reliability, concurrence with depression/reward processing scales, and convergence with other anhedonia measures. The MAAS may be used by researchers and clinicians to better understand the multidimensionality of adolescent anhedonia.
Grocott et al. (2026) studied this question.