Anhedonia and Daily Emotional Experiences Among Mothers of Preschool Children: an Experiential Sampling Study

Positive emotions induced by child cuteness are a critical component of the human parenting system. However, anhedonia, characterized by reduced subjective experiences of pleasure, may undermine parenting experiences by reducing responses to child cuteness. Using experiential sampling, the current research examined the associations among parental anhedonia, responses to child cuteness, and daily parenting experiences. Eighty-two Japanese mothers of preschool children participated in a 5-day survey and reported momentary positive and negative emotions and parental experiences. They also completed an end-of-day survey in which they rated the quality of their interaction with their child and perceived fatigue. The results showed that compared to the low anhedonia group, mothers with higher anhedonia reported dampened cuteness in their child and elevated negative emotions (anxiety and frustration). In addition, they were more likely to report their child's mood more negatively than the controls. At the end of the day, the high anhedonia group reported lower interaction quality. Self-rated fatigue did not differ among groups. These results suggest that anhedonia undermines parenting experiences by diminishing cuteness-induced positive emotions and satisfaction with parent-child relationships, while amplifying negative emotions.