Depressive symptoms and violence perpetration: Examining the moderating influence of reward sensitivity and emotional reactivity in community adults at elevated risk for violent behavior

Abstract

There is growing interest in understanding whether, and under what circumstances, depression confers risk for violence perpetration. To address these questions, we examined whether major depressive disorder (MDD) symptoms correlated with violence perpetration beyond co-occurring externalizing psychopathology, and whether individual differences in reward and emotional reactivity modified depression-violence associations. In a sample of 480 community adults (M/SD_age = 32.2/10.5, 53.5 % female), lifetime MDD symptoms correlated positively with lifetime violence perpetration (e.g., assault, physical fighting) above and beyond basic demographic variables. However, this relationship became non-significant after accounting for co-occurring alcohol and substance use disorders symptoms. The link between depression and violence was also modulated by individual differences in reward sensitivity, but not emotional reactivity. Follow-up analyses indicated that MDD symptoms correlated positively with violence perpetration among individuals with blunted trait reward sensitivity, particularly those low on consummatory reward, but not individuals high on reward sensitivity. Together, these findings demonstrate the importance of considering depression symptoms and trait reward sensitivity in models of violence risk, novel insights that can inform prevention and intervention efforts.