Blunted Neural Reward Responsiveness in Children with Recent Suicidal Ideation

Individuals with suicidal thoughts and behaviors experience abnormalities in reward-related processes, yet little is known about specific components or stages of reward processing that are impaired, especially in children. The primary aim of this study was to conduct an investigation of the Initial Response to Reward subconstruct of the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria in relation to recent suicidal ideation (SI) in children. Participants were 23 children between the ages of 7 and 11 with a history of recent SI and 46 demographically and clinically matched children with no recent SI. Children completed a simple guessing task during which continuous electroencephalography was recorded to isolate the Reward Positivity (ΔRewP) event-related potential, which reflects the difference in neural responses to monetary gains (RewP-gain) versus losses (RewP-loss). Children with recent SI exhibited significantly smaller (i.e., blunted) ΔRewP, providing initial evidence for blunted initial responses to reward in these children.