How to cite this Dataset
Prizeman, Katie (2025): Data supporting: "Anhedonia mediates the relationship between stigma and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): A longitudinal path analysis". University of Reading. Dataset. https://researchdata.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/1462
Description
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most common mental health conditions affecting young people and is linked to major impairments in functioning, quality of life, and suicide risk. Adolescence and emerging adulthood are particularly vulnerable periods due to ongoing brain and social development, making young people more sensitive to stress and stigma. Internalised stigma is a key psychosocial stressor that can intensify MDD symptoms, yet the mechanisms explaining this link remain poorly understood and have rarely been tested in clinically depressed youth.
Data was collected from young people aged 16–25 years with clinically significant MDD symptoms (Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) who completed measures of MDD (Mood and Feelings Questionnaire), anhedonia (Anhedonia Scale for Adolescents), and stigma (Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Inventory-9) at baseline (N = 445) and six-month follow-up (N = 343). The study investigated whether anhedonia and its subcomponents mediate the association between stigma and MDD symptoms, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.
By combining validated clinical measures with a longitudinal design, this dataset provides a rare opportunity to examine how stigma contributes to the persistence and worsening of MDD in youth. This is the first study to demonstrate that anhedonia is a central mechanism linking stigma to MDD over time, advancing theoretical understanding, highlighting a novel intervention target, and informing the development of stigma-reduction and early intervention strategies for young people.
The dataset includes participants’ demographic information alongside responses to questionnaires assessing MDD symptoms, stigma, anhedonia, and motivation at both baseline and follow-up.
| Resource Type: | Dataset |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Prizeman, Katie  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3960-6467 |
| Rights-holders: | Katie Prizeman |
| Data Publisher: | University of Reading |
| Publication Year: | 2025 |
| Data last accessed: | 21 December 2025 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.17864/1947.001462 |
| Metadata Record URL: | https://researchdata.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/1462 |
| Organisational units: | Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology |
| Participating Organisations: | University of Reading |
| Keywords: | anhedonia, amotivation, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), mediation analysis, mental illness, reward processing, stigma, young people |
| Rights: | |
| Data Availability: | OPEN |
