Illuminating a Joyless Life: A Qualitative Study Exploring Anhedonia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Illuminating a Joyless Life: A Transdiagnostic, Qualitative Approach to Anhedonia
IRAS ID
344697
Contact name
Clementine Edwards
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kings College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 10 days
Research summary
This qualitative study is part of a 5-yr fellowship, funded by a Wellcome Early Career Award to the lead researcher. The aim of the fellowship is to understand what psychological processes might be contributing to low pleasure or enjoyment experienced by people with a diagnosis of psychosis or depression. Low pleasure and enjoyment are called anhedonia, and it is a common problem for people with these diagnoses, it is also one of the first signs of these mental health disorders and predicts worse outcomes for people who experience it. At the moment, there are no recommended medical or psychological interventions targeting anhedonia in the NHS. The reason for this is that we do not yet know what these interventions should target or change to improve enjoyment and pleasure. We also want to learn how shared these experiences are across diagnoses, enabling us to develop interventions to help more people. We need to start by asking those who experience it directly and hear their perspectives for the first time. This study aims to address the following research questions:
• What occurs during positive activities for those who are experiencing loss of pleasure or enjoyment in the context of psychosis and/or depression?
• What is the wider impact of these experiences?
We will invite people with a diagnosis of psychosis and/or depression to attend a qualitative interview (online or in-person at the university or an NHS building) of approximately 1 hour co-facilitated by the lead researcher and an expert by experience. This interview will ask about their experiences of low pleasure or enjoyment, what contributes to this problem and what helps. We will also ask their ideas about what might help in the future, and where research should focus on. We will analyse the interviews using qualitative methods, and report themes identified.REC name
London - Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/LO/0578
Date of REC Opinion
16 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion