Individual differences in threat and reward neural circuitry activation: Testing dimensional models of early adversity, anxiety and depression

Altered functioning of the brain's threat and reward circuitry has been linked to early life adversity and to symptoms of anxiety and depression. To date, however, these relationships have been studied largely in isolation and in categorical‐based approaches. It is unclear to what extent early life adversity and psychopathology have unique effects on brain functioning during threat and reward processing. We examined functional brain activity during a face processing task in threat (amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex) and reward (ventral striatum and orbitofrontal cortex) regions of interest among a sample (N = 103) of young adults (aged 18–19 years) in relation to dimensional measures of early life adversity and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Results demonstrated a significant association between higher scores on the deprivation adversity dimension and greater activation of reward neural circuitry during viewing of happy faces, with the largest effect sizes observed in the orbitofrontal cortex. We found no significant associations between the threat adversity dimension, or symptom dimensions of anxiety and depression, and neural activation in threat or reward circuitries. These results lend partial support to theories of adversity‐related alterations in neural activation and highlight the importance of testing dimensional models of adversity and psychopathology in large sample sizes to further our understanding of the biological processes implicated. A dimensional approach was used to reconsider relationships between childhood adversity, adolescent threat and reward brain functioning, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Significant associations were found between more severe childhood deprivation adversity and greater activation of reward neural circuitry, but no significant effects associated childhood threat adversity with symptom dimensions of anxiety and depression, or threat neurocircuitry. Results partially support prior theories and highlight the importance of testing dimensional models in large samples to robustly examine theoretically implicated biological processes.