{"title":"An Integrated Immuno-Reward Model of Adolescent Depression: Theory, Evidence, and Implications","authors":"Lauren B. Alloy, Robin Nusslock","doi":"10.1177/09637214251369722","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Adolescence is an “age of risk” for the emergence of depression. Despite its prevalence and public-health significance, there are major unanswered questions regarding the mechanisms contributing to depression’s etiology and surge in adolescence. Separate lines of research have investigated the roles of inflammation and low reward responsiveness in depression, and recent evidence suggests bidirectional associations between inflammation and reward responsiveness. In this article, we review this evidence, present an integrated immuno-reward model of adolescent depression (specifically, motivational and somatic symptoms of depression), and discuss the role of stress and early adversity in amplifying immune-reward interactions. We end with implications of the immuno-reward model for future research, early identification of at-risk adolescents, intervention, and public-health policy.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214251369722","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Adolescence is an “age of risk” for the emergence of depression. Despite its prevalence and public-health significance, there are major unanswered questions regarding the mechanisms contributing to depression’s etiology and surge in adolescence. Separate lines of research have investigated the roles of inflammation and low reward responsiveness in depression, and recent evidence suggests bidirectional associations between inflammation and reward responsiveness. In this article, we review this evidence, present an integrated immuno-reward model of adolescent depression (specifically, motivational and somatic symptoms of depression), and discuss the role of stress and early adversity in amplifying immune-reward interactions. We end with implications of the immuno-reward model for future research, early identification of at-risk adolescents, intervention, and public-health policy.
期刊介绍:
Current Directions in Psychological Science publishes reviews by leading experts covering all of scientific psychology and its applications. Each issue of Current Directions features a diverse mix of reports on various topics such as language, memory and cognition, development, the neural basis of behavior and emotions, various aspects of psychopathology, and theory of mind. These articles allow readers to stay apprised of important developments across subfields beyond their areas of expertise and bodies of research they might not otherwise be aware of. The articles in Current Directions are also written to be accessible to non-experts, making them ideally suited for use in the classroom as teaching supplements.