Latent subdimensions of anxiety and depression differentially influence exertion of effort in pursuit of reward versus avoidance of threat

Abstract Anxiety and depression are highly comorbid. Across species, depression-related phenotypes have been linked to reduced willingness to expend effort to pursue rewards. Effortful threat avoidance has been less extensively studied. Here, we used a dimensional model of psychopathology to investigate whether distinct sub-dimensions of depressed and anxious affect differentially impact effortful reward pursuit versus threat avoidance in humans. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling revealed that component decision-making mechanisms underlying effortful reward pursuit were differentially impacted by latent dimensions capturing the depressive symptoms of apathy versus anhedonia. Meanwhile, only the latent dimension tapping worry-related symptoms significantly impacted effortful threat avoidance, increasing willingness to exert effort to avoid threat and reducing sensitivity to threat magnitude.