title: Neural reactivity to reward and internalizing symptom dimensions.
abstract: Reduced reward responsiveness, measured via the event-related potential (ERP) component the reward positivity (RewP), has been linked to several internalizing psychopathologies (IPs). Specifically, prior studies suggest that a reduced RewP is robustly related to depression and to a lesser extent anxiety. No studies to date, however, have examined the relation between the RewP and IP symptom dimensions in a heterogeneous, clinically representative patient population that includes both depressed and/or anxious subjects. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the relation between the RewP and specific internalizing symptom dimensions among patients with a variety of IP diagnoses and symptoms.
  
  
  
  A total of 80 treatment seeking adults from the community completed a battery of questionnaires assessing a range of IP symptoms and a well-validated reward processing task known to robustly elicit the RewP.
  
  
  
  A principal components analysis (PCA) on clinical assessments revealed two distinct factors that characterized the patient sample: affective distress/misery and fear-based anxiety. Results showed that within this sample, an attenuated RewP was associated with greater affective distress/misery based symptoms; however, the RewP was unrelated to fear-based anxiety symptoms.
  
  
  
  The current findings suggest that patients with higher distress/misery symptoms are characterized by decreased responsivity to rewards at the physiological level, and that this response tendency distinguishes distress/misery symptoms from fear-based symptoms. The RewP may be one promising transdiagnostic biological target for intervention efforts for individuals with distress-based symptoms of psychopathology.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois-Chicago, Department of Psychiatry, 1747 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, USA. Electronic address: kburkhouse@psych.uic.edu.
authors.forename: Katie L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Burkhouse
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois-Chicago, Department of Psychiatry, 1747 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gorka
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois-Chicago, Department of Psychiatry, 1747 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, USA.
authors.forename: Kaveh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Afshar
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois-Chicago, Department of Psychiatry, 1747 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608, USA; University of Illinois-Chicago, Departments of Psychology and Anatomy and Cell Biology, and the Graduate Program in Neuroscience, 808 S. Wood Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA; Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Mental Health Service Line, 820 S. Damen Avenue, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: K Luan
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Phan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012201:Reward
keywords: Distress; Event-related potentials; Fear; Internalizing symptoms; Reward positivity