Alterations in reward and emotional processing differentiate among adults with a history of childhood maltreatment: Implications for substance use behaviors.

Abstract

Although childhood maltreatment is a well-established risk factor for a multitude of poor psychosocial outcomes, considerably less is known about mechanisms driving this risk transmission. Recent theoretical models posit that types of childhood maltreatment (deprivation vs. threat) may lead to alterations in reward and emotional processing that confer risk for later psychosocial problems. However, empirical examination of these theories is currently limited. We used a person-centered approach to identify profiles of reward and emotional processing in a sample of 758 adults reporting elevated childhood maltreatment. Latent profile analysis indicated a 3-class solution best fit the data: a blunted reward class (n = 220; 29.0%) characterized by low reward processing and average emotional processing; a disrupted emotional processing class (n = 242; 31.9%) marked by normative levels of reward processing but high emotional pain and experiential avoidance and low distress tolerance; and an emotional resilience class (n = 296; 39.1%) characterized by normative reward and emotional processing. Consistent with theoretical models, the specificity of disruption was differentially associated with dimensions of childhood maltreatment, with individuals in the blunted reward class reporting more childhood neglect and individuals in the disrupted emotional processing class reporting more childhood physical/sexual abuse. These profiles of disrupted reward and emotional processing also showed differential relations with the frequency and affective motivations for lifetime substance use. Findings provide empirical support for novel conceptual models of childhood maltreatment that focus on the consequences that may represent mechanisms for problematic behaviors like substance use.

A multisample demonstration of using the prolific platform for repeated assessment and psychometric substance use research.

“…Keywords: crowdsourcing, repeated measures designs, substance use, psychopathology, psychometrics Supplemental materials: https://doi.org/10.1037/pha0000545.supp Crowdsourcing platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) and Prolific have become widely used in psychological research over the past decade (Arditte et al, 2016;Paolacci & Chandler, 2014). Although these platforms have limitations, they can be useful for quickly collecting substance use and mental health data (e.g., Bounoua et al, 2021;Stanton & Watson, 2016;Strickland & Victor, 2020). Furthermore, crowdsourcing data collection methods likely will continue to play a prominent role in substance use research given the ongoing impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as the unfortunate possibility of future pandemics (Tabish, 2020).…”

How do childhood abuse and neglect affect prosocial behavior? The mediating roles of different empathic components

“…Furthermore, these deficits may cause more social withdrawal and limited interpersonal relationships, which further decrease interest in caring for others ( Music, 2011 ). Additionally, some studies have found that neglect predicts the hyposensitivity of reward and blunted reward processing ( Bounoua et al, 2021 ; Yang et al, 2021 ). In this case, children who have experienced neglect would be less likely to associate prosocial behavior with positive social consequences (such as obtaining social reward or a good reputation or avoiding social punishment), which would in turn reduce the willingness to engage in prosocial behavior.…”

Does reward processing moderate or mediate the link between childhood adversity and psychopathology: A longitudinal study

“…Some studies have demonstrated poorer performance on reward learning tasks (Hanson et al, 2017) and blunted approach motivation (Guyer et al, 2006;Kasparek et al, 2020) among threat-exposed youth. Others have observed no association of threat experiences with approach motivation (Bounoua et al, 2021) or behavioral sensitivity to reward value (Armbruster-Genç et al, 2022;Dennison et al, 2016Dennison et al, , 2019Kasparek et al, 2020). This ambiguity is mirrored in the developmental neuroscience literature, with some studies observing blunted responsivity in canonical reward processing regions (e.g., left pallidum and left putamen) in adults with childhood threat experiences (Dillon et al, 2009) and other studies observing heightened responsivity in the ventral striatum to appetitive stimuli among threat-exposed youth (Dennison et al, 2016).…”

“…Childhood adversity has been linked with both behavioral and neural indices of approach motivation and sensitivity to reward value; however, the magnitude and direction of associations vary by adversity type (see Oltean et al, 2022 for a meta-analysis). Deprivation – characterized by institutionalization, material deprivation, and neglect – is consistently associated with blunted behavioral approach motivation and reduced behavioral sensitivity to reward value compared to youth who have not experienced deprivation (Bounoua et al, 2021; Dennison et al, 2019; Kasparek et al, 2020; Sheridan et al, 2018; Wismer Fries & Pollak, 2017). Youth who have experienced deprivation also demonstrate reduced responsiveness to reward in the fronto-striatal valuation network, including the ventral striatum, putamen, and pallidum, in response to appetitive stimuli (Boecker et al, 2014; Goff et al, 2013; Hanson et al, 2015; for review see Hanson et al, 2021).…”