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Adolescent girls’ neural response to reward mediates the relation between childhood financial disadvantage and depression
Author(s) -
Romens Sarah E.,
Casement Melynda D.,
McAloon Rose,
Keenan Kate,
Hipwell Alison E.,
Guyer Amanda E.,
Forbes Erika E.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/jcpp.12410
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , anticipation (artificial intelligence) , psychology , receipt , depression (economics) , developmental psychology , disadvantage , clinical psychology , medicine , population , environmental health , artificial intelligence , world wide web , computer science , political science , law , economics , macroeconomics
Background Children who experience socioeconomic disadvantage are at heightened risk for developing depression; however, little is known about neurobiological mechanisms underlying this association. Low socioeconomic status ( SES ) during childhood may confer risk for depression through its stress‐related effects on the neural circuitry associated with processing monetary rewards. Methods In a prospective study, we examined the relationships among the number of years of household receipt of public assistance from age 5–16 years, neural activation during monetary reward anticipation and receipt at age 16, and depression symptoms at age 16 in 123 girls. Results Number of years of household receipt of public assistance was positively associated with heightened response in the medial prefrontal cortex during reward anticipation, and this heightened neural response mediated the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and current depression symptoms, controlling for past depression. Conclusions Chronic exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood may alter neural circuitry involved in reward anticipation in adolescence, which in turn may confer risk for depression.