2 - (IOP 23) Momentary State Anhedonia Predicts the Quantity and Quality of Daily-life Peer Interactions Among Youth at High-risk for Suicide

Anhedonia, or the loss of interest and/or pleasure in daily activities and experiences, is a central symptom of major depressive disorder that is associated with high levels of distress and functional impairment. Anhedonia may also interfere with peer relationships, especially during adolescence, a developmental period during which peer relationships are essential to healthy psychosocial functioning and development. Anhedonia comprises both trait (stable, time-invariant) and state (dynamic, time-varying) components, and previous research indicates that relative to trait anhedonia, state anhedonia may be more strongly related to proximal risk for deleterious outcomes. Yet, associations between state anhedonia and daily-life socio-affective experiences in adolescence are not well understood. This is an important gap, as illuminating associations between state anhedonia and momentary psychosocial vulnerabilities, such as impaired peer relationships, is essential to identifying proximal risk for acute deteriorations in functioning and informing ecological momentary interventions. Thus, the present study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine within-person associations between state anhedonia and the quantity and quality of daily-life peer interactions among a sample of adolescents enriched for suicide risk, a population at high risk for anhedonia, and for whom peer adversity may be particularly consequential. Participants included 102 adolescents assigned female at birth (19.6% transgender, nonbinary, or other gender minority; ages 12-18; M[SD]=15.34[1.50]; 67.6% at elevated risk for suicide). Risk for suicide was determined based on recent instances of recurrent self-injurious thoughts and behaviors and/or a suicide attempt within the past year. State anhedonia, as well as (1) engagement in peer interactions, (2) connectedness with peers, and (3) positive affect with peers, was measured in daily-life via EMA (n=30 prompts over 10 days). Multilevel models demonstrated that within-person fluctuations in state anhedonia relate to reduced odds of engaging with peers (b=-.41, SE=.11, OR=.67, p<.001), as well as decreased connectedness (b=-9.80, p<.001, Cohen’s d=-2.00) and positive affect with peers (b=-7.99, p=.002, Cohen’s d=-1.15). When high-risk youth experience increases in state anhedonic mood, they engage in fewer peer interactions and derive less connectedness and pleasure from their interactions with peers. Findings indicate that state anhedonia may perpetuate cycles of withdrawal and social disconnectedness in vulnerable teens, with implications for understanding daily-life mechanisms of risk for cascading socio-affective dysfunction among young people at increased risk for suicide.