French Validation of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS): Psychometric Properties Across Digital and Paper Formats

Anhedonia, the diminished ability to experience pleasure, is a transdiagnostic symptom in several neuropsychiatric disorders. To comprehensively assess this symptom, the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) measures interest, motivation, effort, and consummatory pleasure across four reward types. Aim: Using three independent samples, we aimed to validate the French version of the DARS and evaluate its psychometric properties across digital (Samples 1 and 2) and paper-based (Sample 3) formats. Methods: A total of 1,437 French-speaking participants from the general population completed the DARS alongside measures of anhedonia, depression, and behavioral inhibition/activation. Results: Factor analyses confirmed the four-factor structure of the DARS with excellent model fit indices (CFI≥.962, RMSEA≤.036) and strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=.74–0.93) across both formats. The French DARS showed good convergent validity, with weak-to-moderate correlations with other anhedonia and behavioral activation measures, and strong divergent validity, with weak correlations with depression. Gender differences were found; women scored higher overall, while men scored higher on the hobbies subscale. Measurement invariance analyses supported configural and metric invariance across formats, though full invariance was not achieved due to a lack of scalar invariance. Discussion/Conclusion: These findings support the French DARS as a reliable and valid tool for assessing anhedonia. This repository contains the French version of the instrument validated in this study. The original English version can be accessed in the Appendix of the following article: Rizvi, S. J., Quilty, L. C., Sproule, B. A., Cyriac, A., Michael Bagby, R., & Kennedy, S. H. (2015). Development and validation of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) in a community sample and individuals with major depression. Psychiatry research, 229(1-2), 109–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2015.07.062 The materials in this project include several comparison instruments whose original versions are protected by copyright and therefore cannot be made publicly available in this repository. These instruments are the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS), Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System Scales (BIS/BAS), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale (CES-D). Access to these instruments is restricted to licensed or authorized users. They can be obtained through the original publishers, academic libraries, or by contacting the copyright holders directly. Researchers affiliated with academic institutions may also obtain access through their institutional subscriptions.