Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41507345›Full record

ArticleMolecular psychiatry2026

Delay discounting correlates with depression but does not predict relapse after antidepressant discontinuation.

Doron Elad, Giles W Story, Isabel M Berwian, Klaas E Stephan, Henrik Walter, Quentin J M Huys

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Doron Elad *Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5985-9835
Giles W Story *Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
Isabel M BerwianResearch Department of Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology; University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4626-9016
Klaas E StephanTranslational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8594-9092
Henrik WalterCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9403-6121
Quentin J M HuysApplied Computational Psychiatry Lab, Mental Health Neuroscience Department, Division of Psychiatry and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK. q.huys@ucl.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8999-574X

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) WA1539/5-1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Approximately one third of people with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) experience a relapse within six months of discontinuing antidepressant medication (ADM), however, reliable predictors of relapse following ADM discontinuation are currently lacking. A putative behavioural predictor is delay discounting, which measures a person's impatience to receive reward. Previous studies have linked delay discounting to both MDD and reduced serotonergic function, rendering it a plausible candidate predictor. In this multi-site study we measured delay discounting in participants with remitted MDD (N = 97), before and within six months after discontinuation of ADM, and in matched controls without a lifetime history of MDD (N = 54). Using predictive models, we tested whether either baseline discounting, or an early change in discounting following ADM discontinuation, predicted depressive relapse over a six month follow up period. We also tested differences between remitted MDD and control groups in delay discounting at baseline, and associations between discounting and depressive symptoms. We found that the remitted MDD group, compared to the control group, showed significantly higher (p < 0.05; Cohen's d = 0.34) discounting at baseline. In addition, baseline discounting was positively correlated with depression rating scores (Spearman ρ = 0.24). However, delay discounting did not increase following ADM discontinuation. Neither baseline discounting, nor a change in discounting following ADM discontinuation, predicted subsequent depressive relapse. We conclude that delay discounting is elevated in remitted MDD treated with antidepressant medication. However, delay discounting neither increases following ADM discontinuation, nor does it prospectively predict depressive relapse. These results suggest that delay discounting in Major Depressive Disorder has little relationship with illness trajectory following ADM discontinuation.

Indexed as

Delay DiscountingMajor Depressive DisorderAdultAntidepressive AgentsDepressionFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRecurrenceRewardAntidepressive Agents

Identifiers

PMID41507345
PMCPMC13099390

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