| dc.description.abstract | Alterations in neurophysiological responses to reward are associated with depressive symptoms, particularly in combination with stress. Rejection sensitivity is also a known precursor to depression. Neural responses to different reward domains (e.g., monetary or social) may show distinct associations with depressive symptoms, and social rewards may be particularly relevant to understanding vulnerabilities to depression onset. Pathways to depression are complex, and research testing interactions between multiple factors that increase one’s likelihood for developing depression is needed. The present study examined the extent to which neural reward responsiveness moderates the association between rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms using both social and monetary reward tasks in an unselected sample of emerging adults. Participants completed both a peer interaction and monetary incentive delay task while event-related potentials were recorded, as well as self-reported rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms. Social reward responsiveness moderated the association between depressive symptoms and rejection sensitivity (p = .016), such that those at low and mean levels of reward responsiveness were more likely to have higher depressive symptoms. This interaction was not significant in the monetary reward model (p = .664). Results highlight a possible pathway for depression such that the combination of high rejection sensitivity and low social reward responsiveness may increase risk for symptoms. Findings also emphasize the importance of extending monetary reward research in depression to the social domain. Future work is needed using longitudinal data to examine causality and directionality of findings and extending to clinical samples. | |
