A study published in Depression & Anxiety suggests that young adults who encountered neglect in their childhood may face greater challenges in experiencing pleasure compared to those who underwent abuse.

According to Xiongzhao Zhu, Ph.D., and colleagues from Central South University, “[Childhood trauma] has a lasting impact on cognition, emotion, and behavior in adulthood.” Neglected children may receive less attention and care from their caregivers, leading to a reduced frequency of receiving feedback related to rewards, thereby influencing reward learning.

The study highlights anhedonia, characterized by the inability to feel pleasure or partake in enjoyable activities, as a common symptom in various psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The presence of anhedonia may also indicate a predisposition to developing mental illnesses, as noted by the researchers.

To explore the link between anhedonia and childhood trauma, Zhu and colleagues enlisted participants from a psychology clinic at Second Xiangya Hospital in China, including patients with MDD and OCD, as well as university students from four Chinese universities. The participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, assessing neglect (emotional and physical) and abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual), along with multiple assessments measuring different facets of anhedonia. The final sample, with an average age of 22 years, comprised 305 MDD patients, 152 OCD patients, and 2,110 university students.

Zhu and colleagues reported the following:

• Childhood trauma was reported by 69.8% of the MDD patients, 65.8% of the OCD patients, and 33.6% of the university students.
• Neglect was reported by 62.6% of the MDD patients, 55.3% of the OCD patients, and 30.0% of the university students; abuse was reported by 38.7% of the MDD group, 32.9% of the OCD group, and 9.00% of university students.
• Anhedonia subtypes, including physical anhedonia and social anhedonia, were reported by 72.5% to 82.5% of patients with MDD, 47.4% to 65.7% of patients with OCD, and 15.3% to 19.8% of the university students.
• Childhood neglect, not abuse, was associated with anticipatory and state anhedonia in OCD patients and anticipatory, consummatory, physical, and state anhedonia in MDD patients and university students.

Zhu and colleagues noted, “Concerning the more specific forms of [childhood trauma], emotional neglect exhibited the strongest association with most aspects of anhedonia.” They added, “These findings underscore the role of neglect in shaping anhedonia, offering insights into the mechanisms through which childhood trauma contributes to psychopathology and emphasizing the importance of early interventions for families in such circumstances.”