(PS4-A4) Early Life Adversity and Anhedonia 12-months Later Among Adolescents: The Role of Reward-seeking and Risk-taking Behaviors

Background

Approximately 74% of adolescents report experiencing anhedonia, a core symptom of depression, conferring high risk for the onset of adolescent depression. Evidence shows that early life adversity (ELA) is associated with anhedonia, and individual differences in reward motivation may inform this association. Few studies have examined whether the association between ELA and anhedonia in adolescents varies by reward motivation via reward-seeking and risk-taking behaviors, and no studies have utilized a longitudinal design. Studying this model during adolescence may provide a window for interventions before the development of depression and other psychiatric disorders associated with anhedonia. The current study aimed to examine the moderating role of reward-seeking behaviors in the prospective association between ELA and anhedonia 12-months later, and whether these relations further varied by risk-taking behaviors.

Methods

Participants (n = 74, 50% female, range_age=11-17) completed at baseline the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) to measure reward-seeking behavior and risk-taking behavior. Reward-seeking behavior was measured via adjusted average balloon pumps, and risk-taking behavior was measured via total balloon explosions. ELA was assessed from a parent-reported phone screen using the 11-item Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) questionnaire. At study enrollment and 12-months later, participants completed the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale 2^nd Edition (RADS-2), which includes a 7-item anhedonia subscale.

Results

ELA was prevalent (M= 2.08, range= 0-7), with 87.8% of participants indicating 1 or more ELA experiences. Anhedonia scores ranged from 7-28, with an average of 15.86. ELA significantly predicted anhedonia 12-months later (b= .84, SE= .42, p = .05). The interaction between ELA and reward-seeking behavior significantly predicted anhedonia 12-months later (b= -.09, SE= .03, p< .01). Specifically, increases in ELA significantly predicted increases in anhedonia 12-months later for adolescents with low reward-seeking behavior (b= 2.08, SE= .57, p < .01), but not average (b= 2.08, SE= .40, p = .06) or high reward-seeking behavior (b= -.53, SE= .60, p = .38). Risk-taking behaviors were not significant in further qualifying reward-seeking behaviors in the association between ELA and anhedonia 12-months later.

Discussion

Adolescents with greater ELA experiences reported more anhedonia 12-months later, suggesting that ELA confers high risk for developing anhedonia. Reward-seeking behavior moderated this association, such that adolescents with low reward-seeking behavior were at the greatest risk for increasing symptoms of anhedonia across the subsequent 12-months. These findings may aid in understanding which youth with ELA are at risk for depression and other psychopathologies by utilizing reward-seeking behaviors from the BART as a metric. Results from this study may also help to inform more specific intervention for these at-risk youth by focusing on increasing reward-seeking behaviors to mitigate the risks of developing anhedonia.