Development of Self‐Reported Reward Responsiveness and Inhibitory Control and the Role of Clinical and Neural Predictors

Abstract

ObjectiveUnderstanding the development of adolescent reward responsiveness and inhibitory control is important as they are implicated in key outcomes, such as depression. However, relatively few studies have examined the self‐reported experience of this development longitudinally, and past findings have been mixed. Here, we examined the longitudinal development of self‐reported reward responsiveness and inhibitory control in youth, as well as clinical and neural measures as predictors of these longitudinal trajectories.MethodWe assessed 223 youth aged 9–17 across 36 months. We modeled growth trajectories of several measures of reward responsiveness and inhibitory control using multilevel models. We tested reward‐related functional connectivity, depression symptoms, and parental risk for psychopathology as moderators of longitudinal growth.ResultsSelf‐reported inhibitory control increased linearly across adolescence. However, contrary to hypotheses and common models of adolescent development, self‐reported reward responsiveness decreased linearly across adolescence. Baseline functional connectivity and clinical risk measures did not significantly moderate trajectories.ConclusionResults suggest that within‐person changes in the phenomenological experience of reward responsiveness may not match developmental expectations based on cross‐sectional and neuroimaging studies. More attention is needed to the longitudinal study of subjective experience of reward responsiveness.