Daily Life Positive Affect in Peer Contexts: Links with Neural Reward Response and Depression Risk

• In Event: From Brain to Behavior to Daily Life: Cross-Level Assessments of Emotional Response to Peer Interactions

Abstract

A parental history of depression confers increased risk for depression among offspring. Alterations in emotion regulation and neural response to reward, which have been reported in high-risk youth, may contribute to this increased risk. There is also evidence that youth at risk for depression may be particularly sensitive to peer contexts. However, it is unclear how familial depression risk and neural response to reward relate to daily life affective responses to peer contexts in way that could influence pathways to depression in these at-risk youth.

We examined 45 high risk (HR) and 45 low risk (LR) youth aged 9-13 (50% female) with no history of a depressive disorder. Familial risk status was determined by the presence of parental history of recurrent unipolar depression. Youth completed a neural assessment of response to reward feedback using event related potentials, with a focus on the Feedback Negativity (FN) in response to a monetary reward task. This was followed by a 9-day smartphone-based experience sampling protocol of affective responses to daily life events. Specifically, youth were randomly prompted 4-8 times day about their current affect, their current activity, and current social context (i.e., presence of peers).

Overall, HR youth reported significantly lower daily life PA (t=-2.83, p=0.007). HR youth were also more likely to report social contexts in the presence of peers relative to LR youth (t=2.23, p=0.03), but experienced less current PA during these social contexts (t=-2.69, p=0.01). Neural response to reward (FN amplitude) did not differ between HR and LR youth; however, the FN was significantly associated with daily life PA across both groups (r=-.27, p=.03), such that a greater FN amplitude was associated with greater daily life PA. Further, the FN amplitude was marginally associated with PA during peer contexts, such that a larger FN amplitude was associated with greater PA during peer contexts (t=1.78, p=.08).

Low daily life PA may be a vulnerability marker for depression risk among adolescents with a parental history of depression before they experience the onset of depression themselves. HR youth may experience social contexts with peers as more negative relative to LR youth, particularly for those with reduced neural response to reward, which may increase their vulnerability for developing depression. These results may inform prevention and intervention efforts for youth vulnerable to developing depression.

Authors

• Lauren M Bylsma, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  Presenting Author

• Jennifer S. Silk, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cecile D Ladouceur, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author