Trajectories of Reinforcement Sensitivity During Adolescence and Risk for Substance Use

Abstract

Developmental neuroscience models suggest that changes in responsiveness to incentives contribute to increases in adolescent risk behavior, including substance use. Trajectories of sensitivity to reward (SR) and sensitivity to punishment (SP) were examined and tested as predictors of escalation of early substance use in a community sample of adolescents (N=765, mean baseline age 11.8 years, 54% female). SR and SP were assessed using a laboratory task. Across three annual assessments, SR increased, and rapid escalation was associated with increases in substance use. SP declined and was unrelated to substance use. Findings support contemporary views of adolescent brain development, and suggest that early adolescent substance use is motivated by approach responses to reward, rather than failure to avoid potential aversive consequences.

Keywords: adolescence; punishment sensitivity; reward sensitivity; substance use; trajectories.

Figure 1

Design of the Point Scoring Reaction Time Task for Children Revised (PSRTT-CR). Note: Each experimental block included 50 trials (3 seconds each). Feedback was provided on all trials in experimental blocks for 500 ms, including whether the response was correct or incorrect, points earned, and total accumulated points. Incorrect discriminations resulted in a loss of 2 points in all experimental blocks.

Figure 2

Model Implied Growth Trajectories of senstivity to reward (SR) and senstivity to punishment (SP). Note: Declines in reaction time in the reward condition corresponds to increases in SR, and declines reaction in response to punishment cues corresponds to declines in SP.