Stressful life events moderate the effect of neural reward responsiveness in childhood on depressive symptoms in adolescence

Goldstein, Brandon L.; Kessel, Ellen M.; Kujawa, Autumn; Finsaas, Megan C.; Hajcak, Greg; Klein, Daniel N.

doi:10.1017/s0033291719001557

Cited by 52 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Animal and human studies have demonstrated that stress can reduce striatal reward responses (88)(89)(90)(91)(92)(93). The relationship may be more complicated in that a genetic predisposition to RPAs may represent a vulnerability to depression when exposed to a stressful environment (23,30,94). An immediate research need is a twin study to test the genetic and environmental origins of the covariation between depression and reward processing.…”

Section: Origins Of Rpas and Depressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Great Expectations: A Critical Review of and Suggestions for the Study of Reward Processing as a Cause and Predictor of Depression

Nielson

Keren

O’Callaghan

et al. 2021

Biological Psychiatry

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Both human and animal studies support the relationship between depression and reward processing abnormalities, giving rise to the expectation that neural signals of these processes may serve as biomarkers or mechanistic treatment targets. Given the great promise of this research line, we scrutinized those findings and the theoretical claims that underlie them. To achieve this, we applied the framework provided by classical work on causality as well as contemporary approaches to prediction. We identified a number of conceptual, practical, and analytical challenges to this line of research and used a preregistered meta-analysis to quantify the longitudinal associations between reward processing abnormalities and depression. We also investigated the impact of measurement error on reported data. We found that reward processing abnormalities do not reach levels that would be useful for clinical prediction, yet the available evidence does not preclude a possible causal role in depression.

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Section: Origins Of Rpas and Depressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Great Expectations: A Critical Review of and Suggestions for the Study of Reward Processing as a Cause and Predictor of Depression

Nielson

Keren

O’Callaghan

et al. 2021

Biological Psychiatry

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“…Several researchers have posed a reward mediation model of depression, such that acute and chronic stress contribute to reward dysfunction, which, in turn, can lead to the development of depression (e.g., Auerbach et al, 2014). Stressful life events have also been shown to moderate the effect of neural response to reward on depression symptoms longitudinally, such that a blunted reward response (RewP) in combination with stressful life events predicted higher depression symptoms at follow-up (Goldstein et al, 2020). There is also evidence that these effects can operate on shorter time scales.…”

Section: Interactions Across Functional Domains: Reward and Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotion context insensitivity in depression: Toward an integrated and contextualized approach

Bylsma

2020

Psychophysiology

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Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by pervasive mood disturbance as well as deficits in emotional processing, reactivity, and regulation. There is accumulating evidence that MDD is characterized by emotional patterns consistent with environmental disengagement, as reflected in attenuated positive and negative emotional reactivity, consistent with Emotion Context Insensitivity (ECI) theory. However, MDD individuals vary considerably in the extent to which they exhibit specific alterations in patterns of emotional responding. Emotions are complex, multicomponent processes that invoke responses across multiple functional domains and levels of analysis, including subjective experience, behavior, autonomic regulation, cognition, and neural processing. In this article, I review the current state of the literature on emotional responding and MDD from the lens of ECI. I focus on the importance of assessing emotional indices from multiple levels of analysis across development and contexts. I also discuss methodological and measurement issues that may contribute to inconsistent findings. In particular, I emphasize how psychophysiological measures can help elucidate emotional processes that underlie the pathophysiology of MDD as part of an integrated and contextualized approach.

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“…Similar to findings from neuroimaging studies examining brain regions involved in reward processing, research investigating RewP has found that a reduced RewP to monetary rewards prospectively predicts depressive symptoms across childhood and adolescence (Bress et al, 2015; Nelson et al, 2016; Kujawa et al, 2019). Additionally, recent research has shown that RewP to monetary reward measured in childhood interacts with acute stressful events to predict depressive symptoms in early adolescence (Goldstein et al, 2019). However, it remains unclear how this manifests with regard to social reward and to specific types of stressful experiences, as well as the extent to which reduced reward responsiveness as measured by RewP reflects a moderator or mechanism of the effects of stress on depressive symptoms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blunted Social Reward Responsiveness Moderates the Effect of Lifetime Social Stress Exposure on Depressive Symptoms

Pegg

Ethridge

Shields

et al. 2019

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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Exposure to social stress is a well-established risk factor for the development and recurrence of depression. Reduced neural responsiveness to monetary reward has been associated with greater symptoms following stress exposure. However, it remains unclear whether reduced reward responsiveness serves as a mediator or moderator of the effects of stress on internalizing symptoms or whether similar patterns emerge with responses to social reward. We addressed this issue by measuring lifetime stress exposure and event-related potentials (ERPs) to social reward in 231 emerging adults (M = 18.16, SD = 0.41 years old). Participants completed the Stress and Adversity Inventory (STRAIN) to assess severity of lifetime stressors and self-report measures of current internalizing symptoms. In addition, participants completed the Island Getaway task in which the reward positivity (RewP) ERP was recorded in response to social acceptance, adjusting for responses to rejection (RewP residual). In this task, participants vote to accept or reject peers and receive reward/acceptance and rejection feedback. Stressors were divided into social and non-social stress severity scores. Analyses were conducted to test social reward responsiveness as a mediator or moderator of the effects of social and non-social stress on internalizing symptoms. Both social and non-social stress exposure over the life course predicted symptoms of depression (ps < 0.001) and social anxiety (ps < 0.002). The effect of social stress on depression was moderated by the residual RewP to social reward, adjusting for responses to social rejection (p =0.024), such that greater lifetime social stress exposure and a relatively blunted RewP to social reward were associated with greater depressive symptoms. Social reward responsiveness did not mediate effects of stress on internalizing symptoms. Reduced processing of social reward may be a vulnerability for depression that increases risk for symptoms following exposure to social stress. Blunted social reward responsiveness appears to be a relatively unique vulnerability for

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Stressful life events moderate the effect of neural reward responsiveness in childhood on depressive symptoms in adolescence

Cited by 52 publications

References 60 publications

Great Expectations: A Critical Review of and Suggestions for the Study of Reward Processing as a Cause and Predictor of Depression

Great Expectations: A Critical Review of and Suggestions for the Study of Reward Processing as a Cause and Predictor of Depression

Emotion context insensitivity in depression: Toward an integrated and contextualized approach

Blunted Social Reward Responsiveness Moderates the Effect of Lifetime Social Stress Exposure on Depressive Symptoms

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