The Impact of Adversity and Maternal Depression on Neural Reward Responsivity in Young Children

Early life adversity (ELA) is a known risk factor for mental health disorders across development and may confer vulnerability to psychopathology through alterations in reward processing. However, little is known about how distinct dimensions of ELA, particularly experiences of threat and deprivation across individual and neighborhood levels, shape reward responsiveness in early childhood. Prior work in adolescents suggests that maternal depression history may moderate associations between ELA and reward reactivity, underscoring the importance of considering familial risk contexts. We examined associations between threat and deprivation and electrocortical reward responsivity in early childhood, and whether these relations were moderated by maternal depression symptoms and diagnoses.

Participants were 71 children (ages 5-6 years) enrolled in a study on the intergenerational transmission of depression. ELA composites and dimension-specific indices of threat and deprivation were derived from parent-reported measures and geocoded neighborhood indicators. Maternal depression was indexed by a self-report measure of symptoms and diagnostic interviews. Children completed the doors reward task to assess the reward positivity (RewP) event-related potential.

Linear regressions indicated that ELA composites were not significantly related to RewP. However, current maternal depression symptoms moderated the association between deprivation and RewP, such that children exposed to greater deprivation exhibited more blunted RewP, specifically if their mother also exhibited increased depression symptoms.

Findings demonstrate the most pronounced alterations in reward responsiveness in youth with dual exposure to experiences of deprivation and elevated maternal depression symptoms, highlighting the need for early interventions targeting reward functioning in high-risk youth.