Anhedonia Beyond Depressive Symptoms in Children and Adolescents With Conduct Disorder

Participants aged 12-17 years will be recruited consecutively from the outpatient child and adolescent psychiatry service. Participants meeting criteria for Conduct Disorder will form the clinical group. Healthy controls of comparable age, sex, and socioeconomic status will be recruited from community or school settings. ADHD comorbidity will be assessed within the Conduct Disorder group

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 12-17 years.

  • CD groups: meeting DSM-5 criteria for Conduct Disorder confirmed using the Arabic K-SADS-PL-C DSM-5.
  • Control group: no current or previous psychiatric diagnosis according to the Arabic K-SADS-PL-C DSM-5.
  • Ability to understand and complete the assessment procedures.
  • Written informed consent from a parent/legal guardian and written assent from the adolescent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• • Intellectual disability or severe cognitive impairment interfering with reliable assessment.

  • Autism spectrum disorder or severe neurodevelopmental disorder interfering with self-report.
  • Current psychotic disorder.
  • Current or past bipolar I disorder or manic episode.
  • Current major depressive episode meeting full diagnostic criteria.
  • Current severe substance use disorder.
  • Known neurological disorder, including epilepsy or severe traumatic brain injury.
  • Major uncontrolled medical condition likely to substantially affect mood or hedonic functioning.
  • Current medication expected to substantially affect reward processing or anhedonia, where clinically relevant.
  • Acute suicidal risk or psychiatric condition requiring immediate crisis intervention/hospitalization.
  • Refusal to participate or inability to complete the assessment. Stable stimulant treatment for ADHD may be permitted when clinically necessary and will be recorded as a covariate.