Heightened neural reward responsiveness functions as a plasticity factor moderating the association between childhood emotional abuse and young adult depressive symptoms: Evidence of differential susceptibility.

Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, Vol 133(3), Apr 2024, 245-256; doi:10.1037/abn0000911As a neural indicator of reward responsiveness (RR), reward positivity (RewP) has been demonstrated to moderate the association between stress exposure and depressive symptoms. However, extant research has primarily (a) focused on life stress rather than early maltreatment, (b) ignored the time-frequency components, and (c) has been based on a traditional perspective of diathesis stress. The present study aimed to comprehensively examine whether and how neurophysiological (RewP and its time–frequency decomposition components) and self-reported measures of RR interact with childhood emotional abuse on young adult depressive symptoms. The sample of 192 Chinese university students aged 18–25 (Mage = 21.08 ± 1.91 years; 59.4% girls) completed self-reported questionnaires of emotional abuse, depressive symptoms and RR. The RewP and its time-frequency components delta and theta were elicited via a monetary reward task. The results demonstrated that RewP significantly moderated the association between emotional abuse and young adult depressive symptoms in a differential susceptibility but not diathesis-stress manner. However, gain-related delta, loss-related theta, or self-reported RR did not drive such moderation effects. These findings were robust and survived a series of rigorous sensitivity analyses. The current findings provide preliminary evidence that heightened RewP may...
Source: Journal of Abnormal Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research