[The Pleasure-Displeasure Scale. Use in the evaluation of depressive illness]

The Pleasure-displeasure Scale is a self-report instrument consisting of 82 items for measuring the intensity of subjects' affective responses to usually pleasant and unpleasant situations. 81 depressed inpatients were compared to 120 normal subjects. The responses of the depressed patients to the Pleasure sub-scale (French translation of the Fawcett-Clark's Pleasure Scale) are more anhedonic than those of the normal subjects; but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Pleasure scores in the depressive group are bimodally distributed; a distinct subset (11% of depressives) is characterised by an extremely anhedonic Pleasure score. The sensitivity to unpleasant stimuli is significantly greater in the depressive group; however this difference seems to be related rather to a low cultural level than to depression itself. Finally pleasure and displeasure scores are closely correlated: this could possibly imply that anhedonia is not an independent symptom but rather belongs to the wider constellation of affective anesthesia.