Association between overt aggression and anhedonia in patients with major depressive disorder during the acute phase

To explore the factors influencing anhedonia at baseline and use them as confounding factors. To further investigate the correlation between overt aggression and anhedonia during the acute phase of major depressive disorder. In this eight-week prospective study, 384 major depressive disorder patients were recruited from the outpatient section of Shanghai Mental Health Center from May 1, 2017, to October 30, 2018. Standard treatments were performed with escitalopram or venlafaxine for participants. Depressive symptoms, overt aggression, and anhedonia were assessed using the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Modified Overt Aggression Scale, and Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale at baseline, and in the 4th and 8th weeks. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and the duration of untreated psychosis were positively associated with aggression (P