Study protocol for a multimethod investigation of the development of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents: Reward and Depression in Autism (RDA)
Abstract Background Autistic adolescents are more likely to experience depression than their non-autistic peers, yet risk factors for depression in autistic adolescents are not well understood. Better mechanistic knowledge of depression in autistic adolescents is critical to understanding higher pre...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | BMC Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02911-w |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849469794196127744 |
|---|---|
| author | Jessica M. Schwartzman Autumn Kujawa Shafali S. Jeste Blythe A. Corbett Wenyi Xu Alexa D. Monachino Marian A. Castro Katia Cardenas-Quintero Anh Dao Ramon Durazo-Arvizu Santiago Morales |
| author_facet | Jessica M. Schwartzman Autumn Kujawa Shafali S. Jeste Blythe A. Corbett Wenyi Xu Alexa D. Monachino Marian A. Castro Katia Cardenas-Quintero Anh Dao Ramon Durazo-Arvizu Santiago Morales |
| author_sort | Jessica M. Schwartzman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Autistic adolescents are more likely to experience depression than their non-autistic peers, yet risk factors for depression in autistic adolescents are not well understood. Better mechanistic knowledge of depression in autistic adolescents is critical to understanding higher prevalence rates and developing targeted interventions. Altered reward responsiveness and social processes, as assessed by clinical and neural measures [i.e., electroencephalography (EEG)], are important risk factors for depression in non-autistic adolescents that remain largely unexplored in autistic adolescents, even though autistic people have higher rates of depression, exhibit reward differences, and often experience difficulties in social interactions. Therefore, a multimethod investigation of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and their associations with depression symptoms in autistic adolescents, particularly over time, is needed. Methods The current project will employ clinical and neural measures (i.e., interviews, EEG tasks) of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression to test associations between these constructs in autistic adolescents for the first time. A clinical sample of 100 autistic adolescents (14–17 years old) without intellectual disability and with varying severity of depression symptoms (at least 50% with current depression) will be recruited. Clinical and neural measures will be administered at two timepoints one year apart. Planned analyses will test cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between clinical and neural measures of reward responsivity and depression symptoms. Discussion This systematic study of reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents is likely to advance our collective understanding of depression in this population by informing risk stratification models and identifying potential intervention targets. Findings may also establish the reliability of several clinical and neural measures of reward responsivity in this population that can eventually be used to measure treatment outcome and identify predictors of treatment response. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6c2e53bf79a34359a8cf46cfcd0e8e89 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2050-7283 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-6c2e53bf79a34359a8cf46cfcd0e8e892025-08-20T03:25:20ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832025-06-0113111510.1186/s40359-025-02911-wStudy protocol for a multimethod investigation of the development of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents: Reward and Depression in Autism (RDA)Jessica M. Schwartzman0Autumn Kujawa1Shafali S. Jeste2Blythe A. Corbett3Wenyi Xu4Alexa D. Monachino5Marian A. Castro6Katia Cardenas-Quintero7Anh Dao8Ramon Durazo-Arvizu9Santiago Morales10Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern CaliforniaDepartment of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt UniversityDepartment of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern CaliforniaDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical CenterDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern CaliforniaDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern CaliforniaDivision of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Los AngelesDivision of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Los AngelesDepartment of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt UniversityDepartment of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern CaliforniaDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern CaliforniaAbstract Background Autistic adolescents are more likely to experience depression than their non-autistic peers, yet risk factors for depression in autistic adolescents are not well understood. Better mechanistic knowledge of depression in autistic adolescents is critical to understanding higher prevalence rates and developing targeted interventions. Altered reward responsiveness and social processes, as assessed by clinical and neural measures [i.e., electroencephalography (EEG)], are important risk factors for depression in non-autistic adolescents that remain largely unexplored in autistic adolescents, even though autistic people have higher rates of depression, exhibit reward differences, and often experience difficulties in social interactions. Therefore, a multimethod investigation of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and their associations with depression symptoms in autistic adolescents, particularly over time, is needed. Methods The current project will employ clinical and neural measures (i.e., interviews, EEG tasks) of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression to test associations between these constructs in autistic adolescents for the first time. A clinical sample of 100 autistic adolescents (14–17 years old) without intellectual disability and with varying severity of depression symptoms (at least 50% with current depression) will be recruited. Clinical and neural measures will be administered at two timepoints one year apart. Planned analyses will test cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between clinical and neural measures of reward responsivity and depression symptoms. Discussion This systematic study of reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents is likely to advance our collective understanding of depression in this population by informing risk stratification models and identifying potential intervention targets. Findings may also establish the reliability of several clinical and neural measures of reward responsivity in this population that can eventually be used to measure treatment outcome and identify predictors of treatment response.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02911-wReward responsivityDepressionAutismAdolescentElectroencephalogramLongitudinal |
| spellingShingle | Jessica M. Schwartzman Autumn Kujawa Shafali S. Jeste Blythe A. Corbett Wenyi Xu Alexa D. Monachino Marian A. Castro Katia Cardenas-Quintero Anh Dao Ramon Durazo-Arvizu Santiago Morales Study protocol for a multimethod investigation of the development of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents: Reward and Depression in Autism (RDA) BMC Psychology Reward responsivity Depression Autism Adolescent Electroencephalogram Longitudinal |
| title | Study protocol for a multimethod investigation of the development of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents: Reward and Depression in Autism (RDA) |
| title_full | Study protocol for a multimethod investigation of the development of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents: Reward and Depression in Autism (RDA) |
| title_fullStr | Study protocol for a multimethod investigation of the development of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents: Reward and Depression in Autism (RDA) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Study protocol for a multimethod investigation of the development of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents: Reward and Depression in Autism (RDA) |
| title_short | Study protocol for a multimethod investigation of the development of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents: Reward and Depression in Autism (RDA) |
| title_sort | study protocol for a multimethod investigation of the development of social and nonsocial reward responsivity and depression in autistic adolescents reward and depression in autism rda |
| topic | Reward responsivity Depression Autism Adolescent Electroencephalogram Longitudinal |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02911-w |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jessicamschwartzman studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT autumnkujawa studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT shafalisjeste studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT blytheacorbett studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT wenyixu studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT alexadmonachino studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT marianacastro studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT katiacardenasquintero studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT anhdao studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT ramondurazoarvizu studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda AT santiagomorales studyprotocolforamultimethodinvestigationofthedevelopmentofsocialandnonsocialrewardresponsivityanddepressioninautisticadolescentsrewardanddepressioninautismrda |