1. ABOUT THE DATASET ------------ Title: Data supporting: "Mental illness stigma exacerbates anhedonia in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): A participatory qualitative study" Creator(s): Katie Prizeman, PhD (katiediab@gmail.com), ORCiD https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3960-6467 Organisation(s): Department of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom Rights-holder(s): Katie Prizeman, PhD Publication Year: 2025 Description: Clinical depression, or Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), is a common and serious condition in young people, often characterised by persistent sadness, loss of interest, and emotional numbness. In this age group, MDD can substantially affect academic performance, relationships, and overall life satisfaction. While depressive symptoms are well documented, the role of stigma in exacerbating them—particularly anhedonia, characterised by reduced pleasure, motivation, and social engagement and often resistant to treatment—remains insufficiently understood. Stigma may further diminish motivation and social participation, increasing isolation and emotional disconnection. This qualitative study explored how mental illness stigma influences anhedonia in young people with clinical symptoms of MDD. A core feature of the study was its participatory design: a youth advisory group co-developed the interview guide, providing input throughout the research process to ensure relevance, sensitivity, and alignment with young people’s lived experiences. This approach enabled the study to centre youth voices and priorities at every stage. The findings provide novel, youth-informed evidence that stigma compounds anhedonia by undermining motivation, disrupting emotional connection, and reinforcing social withdrawal. These results highlight stigma as a previously overlooked mechanism contributing to anhedonia and underscore the value of co-produced research that elevates young people’s perspectives in mental health studies. The dataset includes participants’ demographic information alongside responses to questionnaires assessing depression symptoms, stigma, anhedonia, motivation, and social participation, providing a comprehensive overview of the sample and key variables. Cite as: Prizeman, Katie (2025): Data supporting: "Mental illness stigma exacerbates anhedonia in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): A participatory qualitative study". University of Reading. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.17864/1947.001428 Related publication: • Title: Mental illness stigma exacerbates anhedonia in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): A participatory qualitative study • Corresponding author: Katie Prizeman, PhD • Co-authors: Ciara McCabe, PhD • Journal: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry • Current status: Manuscript in peer review • Expected date of publication: N/A Contact: Katie Prizeman (katiediab@gmail.com) Acknowledgements: We would like to thank all the participants for their valuable contributions to this study. We are also grateful to the Youth Advisory Group for their invaluable guidance and support, ensuring the study remained participatory and grounded in young people’s lived experiences. 2. TERMS OF USE ------------ Copyright 2025 Katie Prizeman. This dataset is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. 3. PROJECT AND FUNDING INFORMATION ------------ This project received no other funding. This dataset was not created in the course of a funded project. 4. CONTENTS ------------ File listing 1. Data_File_Prizeman_2025 Includes 1 excel file made up of 4 excel sheets: • Sheet 1 titled: Detailed overview (N=35). Includes information about 35 participant socio-demographic characteristic information (i.e., age, gender, ethnicity, country, highest education level, household income, and total ASA, ISMI-9, and MFQ scores) • Sheet 2 titled: ASA data. Includes 35 participants raw ASA data (participant responses to ASA questions and ASA scoring) • Sheet 3 titled: MFQ data. Includes 35 participants raw MFQ data (participant responses to MFQ questions and MFQ scoring) • Sheet 4 titled: ISMI-9 data. Includes 35 participants raw ISMI-9 data (participant responses to ISMI-9 questions and ISMI-9 scoring) 5\. METHODS ----------- Participant Recruitment and Sample Characteristics: Participants were aged 16–25, met the clinical threshold for depressive symptoms (MFQ ≥27; Costello & Angold, 1988), could provide informed consent, and were able to complete the study in English. They were recruited via posters and study information distributed to multiple youth mental health organisation listservs across the United Kingdom, as well as relevant online forums and social media platforms associated with youth mental health charities and voluntary organisations. Recruitment was open to young people from the general community, including students, who self-selected into the study by contacting the research team. Recruitment aimed to enhance sample diversity, including representation from Black, Asian, and minoritised ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Exclusion criteria were age outside the specified range, MFQ <27, or a history of substance use or anxiety disorder. A total of 11 young people with lived experience of depression formed a youth advisory group, contributing to study design, interview guide development, and thematic analysis to ensure questions were relevant, clear, and sensitive, and that findings reflected participants’ lived experiences. Participants received information sheets, provided written consent, and were debriefed with support resources; they were also entered into a £100 voucher prize draw. Data Collection and Measures: Participants completed online questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms (MFQ), anhedonia (ASA), and internalised stigma (ISMI-9), all demonstrating strong reliability and validity in youth populations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted remotely via Microsoft Teams, guided by a co-developed schedule informed by the youth advisory group. The guide combined open-ended questions about daily life and wellbeing with prompts on stigma, allowing participants to discuss experiences spontaneously or in response to stigma-focused questions. Feedback was sought during and after interviews to ensure clarity, comfort, and completeness. Data collection continued iteratively until sufficient information power was achieved, capturing rich, relevant insights into the experiences of young people with depression. Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Reading (REC: 2023-206-NW), and all procedures adhered to institutional and national research guidelines.