Neural response to rewards moderates the within-person association between daily positive events and positive affect during a period of stress exposure.

Stress and neural responses to reward can interact to predict psychopathology, but the mechanisms of this interaction are unclear. One possibility is that the strength of neural responses to reward can affect the ability to maintain positive affect during stress. In this study, 105 participants completed a monetary reward task to elicit the reward positivity (RewP), an event-related potential sensitive to rewards. Subsequently, during a stressful period, participants reported on their affect nine times a day and on daily positive and negative events for 10 days. Even during heightened stress, experiencing more positive events was associated with increased positive affect. The RewP significantly moderated this association: Individuals with a larger RewP reported greater increases in positive affect when they experienced more positive events, relative to individuals with a smaller RewP. A blunted RewP might contribute to stress susceptibility by affecting how much individuals engage in positive emotion regulation during stress.

Chronic stress in peer relationships moderates the association between pubertal development and neural response to emotional faces in adolescence.

Adolescence is a period of heightened risk for multiple forms of psychopathology, partly due to greater exposure to interpersonal stress. One way that interpersonal stress may increase risk for psychopathology is by altering the normative development of neural systems that support socio-affective processing. The late positive potential (LPP) is an event-related potential component that reflects sustained attention to motivationally-salient information and is a promising marker of risk for stress-related psychopathology. However, it is not clear how the LPP to socio-affective information changes across adolescence, nor whether exposure to stress with peers interferes with normative developmental differences in the LPP to socio-affective content during this period. In 92 adolescent girls (10-19 years old), we assessed the LPP to task-irrelevant emotional and neutral faces, as well as behavioural measures of interference following the presentation of these faces. Adolescents at more advanced stages of puberty showed a smaller LPP to emotional faces, but adolescents exposed to greater peer stress exhibited a larger LPP to these stimuli. Additionally, for girls exposed to lower levels of peer stress, more advanced pubertal development was associated with a smaller LPP to emotional faces, whereas for girls exposed to higher levels of peer stress, the association between pubertal development and the LPP to emotional faces was not significant. Neither stress nor pubertal stage was significantly associated with behavioural measures. Combined, these data suggest that one pathway through which stress exposure increases risk for psychopathology during adolescence is by interfering with the normative development of socio-affective processing.

Blunted neural response to errors prospectively predicts increased symptoms of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Symptoms of depression have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly due to increases in both chronic and episodic stress exposure. Yet these increases are being driven by a subset of people, leading to questions of what factors make some people more vulnerable. Individual differences in neural response to errors may confer vulnerability to stress-related psychopathology. However, it is unclear whether neural response to errors prospectively predicts depressive symptoms within the context of chronic and episodic stress exposure. Prior to the pandemic, neural response to errors, measured by the error-related negativity (ERN), and depression symptoms were collected from 105 young adults. Beginning in March 2020 and ending in August 2020, we collected symptoms of depression and exposure to pandemic-related episodic stressors at eight time points. Using multilevel models, we tested whether the ERN predicted depression symptoms across the first 6 months of the pandemic, a period of chronic stress. We also examined whether pandemic-related episodic stressors moderated the association between the ERN and depression symptoms. A blunted ERN predicted increased depression symptoms across the early part of the pandemic, even after adjusting for baseline depression symptoms. Moreover, episodic stress interacted with the ERN to predict concurrent symptoms of depression: For individuals exposed to greater episodic stress, a blunted ERN was associated with increased depressive symptoms at each timepoint during the pandemic. These findings indicate that blunted neural response to errors may enhance risk for depression symptoms under conditions of real-world chronic and episodic stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Risk factors for the intergenerational transmission of depression in women and girls: Understanding neural correlates of major depressive disorder and the role of early-onset maternal depression.

Deficits in neural reward processing have been implicated in the etiology of depression and have been observed in high-risk individuals. However, depression is a heterogeneous disorder, and not all depressed individuals exhibit blunted neural reward response, suggesting the need to examine more specific depression phenotypes. Early-onset depression, a well-defined phenotype, has been associated with greater intergenerational transmission of depression and appears more closely linked to neural reward processing deficits. The present study examined whether a maternal history of early-onset depression was associated with neural reward response among mothers and their daughters. Mothers with and without a history of depression, as well as their biological, adolescent daughters (N = 109 dyads), completed a monetary reward guessing task while electroencephalogram was collected. Analyses focused on the Reward Positivity (RewP), an event-related potential following reward receipt. Adjusting for current depressive symptoms, maternal early-onset depression was associated with a blunted RewP in the mothers and a numerically smaller RewP in their never-depressed, adolescent daughters. Maternal adult-onset depression was not statistically associated with a blunted RewP in mothers or daughters. Thus, a blunted RewP appears to be a trait-like vulnerability marker for depression that emerges before depression onset and relates to more specific depression phenotypes (e.g., early-onset depression). These findings have implications for early identification of individuals at risk of depression and for developing more targeted interventions.

Maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety during the postpartum period moderate infants' neural response to emotional faces of their mother and of female strangers.

Affective exchanges between mothers and infants are key to the intergenerational transmission of depression and anxiety, possibly via adaptations in neural systems that support infants' attention to facial affect. The current study examined associations between postnatal maternal symptoms of depression, panic and social anxiety, maternal parenting behaviours, and infants' neural responses to emotional facial expressions portrayed by their mother and by female strangers. The Negative Central (Nc), an event-related potential component that indexes attention to salient stimuli and is sensitive to emotional expression, was recorded from 30 infants. Maternal sensitivity, intrusiveness, and warmth, as well as infant's positive engagement with their mothers, were coded from unstructured interactions. Mothers reporting higher levels of postnatal depression symptoms were rated by coders as less sensitive and warm, and their infants exhibited decreased positive engagement with the mothers. In contrast, postnatal maternal symptoms of panic and social anxiety were not significantly associated with experimenter-rated parenting behaviours. Additionally, infants of mothers reporting greater postnatal depression symptoms showed a smaller Nc to their own mother's facial expressions, whereas infants of mothers endorsing greater postnatal symptoms of panic demonstrated a larger Nc to fearful facial expressions posed by both their mother and female strangers. Together, these results suggest that maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety during the postpartum period have distinct effects on infants' neural responses to parent and stranger displays of emotion.

Empathy, defending, and functional connectivity while witnessing social exclusion.

Peers are present for most bullying episodes. Peers who witness bullying can play an important role in either stopping or perpetuating the behavior. Defending can greatly benefit victimized peers. Empathy is strongly associated with defending. Yet, less is known about defenders' neural response to witnessing social distress, and how this response may relate to the link between empathy and defending. Forty-six first-year undergraduate students (Mage = 17.7; 37 women), with varied history of peer defending, underwent fMRI scanning while witnessing a depiction of social exclusion. Functional connectivity analysis was performed across brain regions that are involved in cognitive empathy, empathetic distress, and compassion. History of defending was positively associated with functional connectivity (Exclusion > Inclusion) between the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) - medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), and right OFC - left and right amygdalae. Defending was negatively associated with functional connectivity between the left OFC - anterior cingulate cortex. The relationship between history of defending and empathy (specifically, empathetic perspective taking) was moderated by functional connectivity of the right OFC - left amygdala. These findings suggest that coactivation of brain regions involved in compassionate emotion regulation and empathetic distress play a role in the relationship between empathy and peer defending.

Adolescents and young adults differ in their neural response to and recognition of adolescent and adult emotional faces.

Peer relationships become increasingly important during adolescence. The success of these relationships may rely on the ability to attend to and decode subtle or ambiguous emotional expressions that are common in social interactions. However, most studies examining youths' processing and labeling of facial emotion have employed adult faces and faces that depict emotional extremes as stimuli. In this study, 40 adolescents and 40 young adults viewed blends of angry-neutral, fearful-neutral, and happy-neutral faces (e.g., 100% angry, 66% angry, 33% angry, neutral) portrayed by adolescent and adult actors as electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Participants also labeled these faces according to the emotion expressed (i.e., angry, fearful, happy, or neutral). The Late Positive Potential (LPP), an event-related potential (ERP) component that reflects sustained attention to motivationally salient information, was scored from the EEG following face presentation. Among adolescents, as peer-age faces moved from ambiguous (33%) to unambiguous (100%) emotional expression, the LPP similarly increased. These effects were not found when adolescents viewed emotional face blends portrayed by adult actors. Additionally, while both adolescents and young adults showed greater emotion labeling accuracy as faces increased in emotional intensity from ambiguous to unambiguous emotional expression, adolescent participants did not show greater accuracy when labeling peer-compared to adult-age faces. Together, these data suggest that adolescents attend more to subtle differences in peer-age emotional faces, but they do not label these emotional expressions more accurately than adults.

Neural response to rewarding social feedback in never-depressed adolescent girls and their mothers with remitted depression: Associations with multiple risk indices.

Prevention of depression requires a clear understanding of etiology. Previous studies have identified reduced neural responses to monetary reward as a risk factor for depression, but social reward processing may be particularly relevant to depression. This study investigated associations between neural responses to social reward and three well-established risk factors for depression: personal history, family history, and interpersonal stress. We examined the reward positivity (RewP), an event-related potential sensitive to rewarding feedback, in a sample of 85 women with and without remitted depression and their never-depressed adolescent daughters. In never-depressed daughters, maternal history of depression predicted a blunted social RewP, but interpersonal stress did not. In the mothers, greater interpersonal stress predicted a blunted RewP, but personal depression history was not significant. Combined, these data suggest that personal history, family history, and interpersonal stress may converge on social reward sensitivity, which may advance future research to understand the development of depression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations between lifetime stress exposure and the error-related negativity (ERN) differ based on stressor characteristics and exposure timing in young adults.

Life stress increases risk for multiple forms of psychopathology, in part by altering neural processes involved in performance monitoring. However, the ways in which these stress-cognition effects are influenced by the specific timing and types of life stressors experienced remains poorly understood. To address this gap, we examined how different social-psychological characteristics and developmental timing of stressors are related to the error-related negativity (ERN), a negative-going deflection in the event-related potential (ERP) waveform that is observed from 0 to 100 ms following error commission. A sample of 203 emerging adults performed an ERN-eliciting arrow flanker task and completed an interview-based measure of lifetime stress exposure. Adjusting for stress severity during other developmental periods, there was a small-to-medium effect of stress on performance monitoring, such that more severe total stress exposure, as well as more severe social-evaluative stress in particular, experienced during early adolescence significantly predicted an enhanced ERN. These results suggest that early adolescence may be a sensitive developmental period during which stress exposure may result in lasting adaptations to neural networks implicated in performance monitoring.

Intergenerational transmission of depression risk: Mothers' neural response to reward and history of depression are associated with daughters' neural response to reward across adolescence.

Impaired reward responsiveness, a construct of the RDoC positive valence systems (PVS), prospectively predicts depression onset and may therefore represent an important marker of risk. Neural structures implicated in reward processing undergo substantial change during adolescence, a period of heightened risk for depression, particularly for those with a family history of the disorder. However, it is not clear whether familial transmission of PVS functioning also changes across adolescence, nor whether a family history of depression influences normative development of the PVS. To address these questions, mothers and their adolescent daughters each completed a monetary reward guessing task while an electroencephalogram was recorded (N = 109 dyads). Daughters' pubertal status significantly moderated the association between mothers' and daughters' reward processing in the delta frequency, such that there was a negative association for daughters in early puberty that shifted toward a positive association in later puberty. Furthermore, for never-depressed daughters without a maternal history of depression, more advanced pubertal development was associated with increased reward-related power in the delta frequency, whereas, for daughters with a maternal history of depression, more advanced pubertal development was associated with reduced power in the delta frequency. These data indicate that biomarkers of risk for psychopathology may differ as a function of both familial risk and developmental status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Internal consistency reliability of the P300 to novelty in infants: The influence of trial number and data loss due to artifacts.

The P300 is an event-related potential component that reflects attention to motivationally salient stimuli and may be a promising tool to examine individual differences in cognitive-affective processing very early in development. However, the psychometric properties of the P300 in infancy are unknown, a fact that limits the component's utility as an individual difference measure in developmental research. To address this gap, 38 infants completed an auditory three-stimulus oddball task that included frequent standard, infrequent deviant, and novel stimuli. We quantified the P300 at a single electrode site and at region of interest (ROI) and examined the internal consistency reliability of the component, both via split-half reliability and as a function of trial number. Results indicated that the P300 to standard, deviant, and novel stimuli fell within moderate to high internal consistency reliability thresholds, and that scoring the component at an ROI led to slightly higher estimates of reliability. However, the percentage of data loss due to artifacts increased across the course of the task, suggesting that including more trials will not necessarily improve the reliability of the P300. Together, these results suggest that robust and reliable measurement of the P300 will require designing tasks that minimize trial number and maximize infant tolerability.

Evidence Base Update for Measures of Social Skills and Social Competence in Clinical Samples of Youth.

Social skills and social competence are key transdiagnostic processes in developmental psychopathology and are the focus of an array of clinical interventions. In this Evidence Base Update, we evaluated the psychometric properties of measures of social skills and social competence used with clinical samples of children and adolescents. A systematic literature search yielded eight widely used measures of social skills and one measure of social competence. Applying the criteria identified by Youngstrom et al. (2017), we found that, with some exceptions, these measures had adequate to excellent norms, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. There was at least adequate evidence of construct validity and treatment sensitivity in clinical samples for nearly all measures assessed. Many of the scales included items assessing constructs other than social skills and competence (e.g., emotion regulation). Development of updated tools to assess youth's effectiveness in key interpersonal situations, including those occurring online, may yield clinical dividends.

Comparing the effects of different methodological decisions on the error-related negativity and its association with behaviour and gender.

The error-related negativity (ERN) is an event-related potential (ERP) component that is widely used to study human performance monitoring. However, substantial methodological differences exist across studies and it is unclear to what extent these differences may impact the reliability and replicability of observed effects. The current study used multiple common methodological approaches to ERN measurement on the same dataset in order to clarify the impact of these choices on the component's measured amplitude, psychometric properties, and association with individual differences, specifically behaviour and gender. In a sample of 263 adults, we quantified the ERN using different reference schemes (mastoid and average), baseline correction periods (-100 to 0, -200 to 0, and -500 to -300 ms), amplitude measures (mean, peak, and peak-to-peak), difference scores (subtraction and residual scores), and electrode site scorings (single-electrode and region of interest). This resulted in 72 distinct processing streams and estimates of the ERN. We found that data processing choices affect not just the measured amplitude of the ERN (range = -12.60-1.38 µV), but also measures of internal consistency (α range = 0.49-0.77) and test-retest reliability (r range = 0.40-0.71). Moreover, these different combinations of methods affected the strength of associations between the ERN and post-error slowing, as well as the magnitude and direction of gender effects on the ERN. Together, these results illustrate the importance of considering methodological influences on ERN measurement. Future studies comparing the effects of different methodological choices on ERPs and their psychometric properties are needed.

The error-related negativity (ERN) moderates the association between interpersonal stress and anxiety symptoms six months later.

Anxiety disorders are often preceded by interpersonal stress; however, most individuals who experience stress do not develop anxiety, making it difficult to predict who is most susceptible to stress. One proposed trans-diagnostic neural risk marker for anxiety is the error-related negativity (ERN), a negative deflection in the event-related potential waveform occurring within 100 ms of error commission. The present study sought to investigate whether interpersonal stress experienced over the course of a year interacts with ERN magnitude to prospectively predict anxiety symptoms. A sample of 57 emerging adults performed an arrow flanker task to elicit the ERN at the start of the academic school year (time one). Toward the end of the academic year (time two), participants reported on past-year interpersonal stress and anxiety symptoms. Stress interacted with ERN magnitude to predict anxiety symptoms, whereby, for individuals with an enhanced ERN at time one, greater interpersonal stress over the course of a year was significantly associated with increased anxiety symptoms at time two, even controlling for anxiety symptoms at time one. These findings suggest that enhanced performance monitoring may render individuals more susceptible to the adverse effects of interpersonal stress, thereby increasing risk for heightened anxiety.

Intolerance of uncertainty and threat generalization: A replication and extension.

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a transdiagnostic risk factor for internalizing disorders. Prior work has found that IU may be associated with either increased reactivity to threat or, alternatively, with decreased differential responding between threat and nonthreat/safety cues (i.e., threat generalization). For example, work by Morriss, Macdonald, & van Reekum  (2016) found that higher IU was associated with increased threat generalization during acquisition (using skin conductance response (SCR)), as well as less differentiation between acquisition and extinction (using subjective uneasiness ratings). Here, three labs attempted direct and conceptual replications of Morriss, Macdonald, et al. (2016). Results showed that the direct replication failed, despite being conducted at the same lab site as the original study; moreover, in contrast to Morriss, Macdonald, et al. (2016), the direct replication found that higher IU was associated with greater SCR discrimination between threat and safety cues (across acquisition and extinction), as well as greater differences in uneasiness ratings between acquisition and extinction. Nonetheless, in the conceptual replications, higher IU was associated with greater threat generalization, as well as less discrimination between acquisition and extinction, as measured using SCR. Higher IU was also associated with larger late positive potentials to threat versus safety cues during extinction-results that mirror those observed by Morriss, Macdonald, et al. (2016) using SCR. Results are discussed with regards to the challenge involved in defining a successful replication attempt, the benefits of collaborative replication and the use and reliability of multiple measures.

The prevalence of pathological findings identified by next day abdominal ultrasound in patients discharged from the emergency department.

OBJECTIVE: A common strategy for managing emergency department (ED) patients with low-risk abdominal pain is to discharge them home and arrange for next day outpatient ultrasound for further assessment. The objective was to determine the proportion of outpatient ultrasounds with findings requiring intervention within 14 days. METHODS: This was a retrospective chart review of non-pregnant patients ages 18 to 40 years, presenting to an academic ED (annual census 65,000) with an abdominal complaint for whom the emergency physician arranged an outpatient (next day) abdominal ultrasound. RESULTS: Of the 299 included patients, 252 (84.3%) were female and mean (SD) age was 28.4 (6.0) years. Twenty-three (7.7%) patients had ultrasounds requiring intervention within 14 days of imaging. Of these, eight (34.8%) had appendicitis, five (21.7%) had cholecystitis, four (17.4%) had urological pathology, three (13.0%) had gynecological pathology, and three (13.0%) had gastrointestinal diagnoses. Of note, 14 (60.9%) patients requiring follow-up or intervention within 14 days had symptoms that improved or resolved at the time of the outpatient ultrasound. For the 277 (92.6%) patients not requiring intervention, 117 (42.2%) had improved, 89 (32.1%) were unchanged, 50 (18.1%) had resolved, and 5 (1.8%) had worsened symptoms at the time of the follow-up ultrasound. Of the non-intervention patients, 13 (4.7%) went on to have alternative imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and a sonohysterogram. CONCLUSIONS: Next-day ultrasound imaging remains a good way of identifying patients with serious pathology not appreciated at the time of their ED visit.

OBJECTIF: L'une des conduites souvent tenues devant les douleurs abdominales à faible risque au service des urgences (SU) est de retourner les patients à domicile et de fixer un rendez-vous à la clinique externe pour une échographie d'évaluation à effectuer le lendemain. L'étude visait donc à déterminer la proportion de patients soumis à une échographie en consultation externe, qui ont dû subir une intervention dans les 14 jours suivants. MÉTHODE: Il s'agit d'un examen rétrospectif de dossiers de patients et de patientes non enceintes, âgés de 18 à 40 ans, ayant consulté dans un SU d'hôpital d'enseignement (65 000 selon le recensement annuel) pour des douleurs abdominales qui ont motivé l'urgentologue à fixer un rendez-vous à la clinique externe (le lendemain) pour une échographie abdominale. RÉSULTATS: Au total, 299 patients ont été retenus, dont 252 femmes (84,3%), et l'âge moyen (écart type) était de 28,4 ans (6,0). Parmi ceux qui ont été soumis à une échographie, 23 patients (7,7%) ont dû subir une intervention au cours des 14 jours suivant l'examen par imagerie. Sur ce nombre, 8 (34,8%) souffraient d'appendicite, 5 (21,7%), de cholécystite; 4 (17,4%), de troubles urinaires; 3 (13,0%), de troubles gynécologiques; et 3 (13,0%) de troubles gastro-intestinaux. Point à souligner, chez 14 patients (60,9%) qui ont eu besoin d'un suivi ou d'une intervention dans les 14 jours suivants, les symptômes s'étaient atténués ou avaient disparu complètement au moment de l'échographie en consultation externe. Chez les 277 autres patients (92,6%) qui n'ont pas eu à subir d'intervention, 117 (42,2%) ont vu leurs symptômes diminuer; 89 (32,1%), rester inchangés; 50 (18,1%), disparaître; et 5 (1,8%) s'intensifier au moment de l'échographie de suivi. Parmi ceux qui n'ont pas subi d'intervention, 13 (4,7%) ont été soumis à d'autres examens par imagerie, notamment à un examen par résonance magnétique, à une tomodensitométrie ou à une échographie utérine. CONCLUSION: Une échographie effectuée le lendemain demeure une bonne conduite à tenir devant des manifestations pathologiques sérieuses mais non reconnues au moment de la consultation au SU.

Neither wrong nor right: Theta and delta power increase during performance monitoring under conditions of uncertainty.

The brain's performance monitoring system monitors ongoing actions and signals the need for cognitive control to optimize behavior under uncertainty. In the lab, performance monitoring has been studied using the flanker task, wherein a single optimal behavior exists. However, in the real world, the majority of performance monitoring occurs in contexts where there is not a single best option, and these uncertain contexts may be especially aversive for some individuals. To that end, the present study sought to examine performance monitoring in the context of certain and uncertain responses in 62 adults. Specifically, we modified the flanker task such that, in addition to arrows pointing left or right, we explicitly instructed participants that they would have to respond to some stimuli for which there would be no right or wrong responses (i.e., ambiguous trials). Neural indices of performance monitoring were examined in both the temporal (error-related negativity (ERN), correct-response negativity (CRN), and stimulus-locked N2) and spectral domains (theta and delta power). Associations between intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and performance monitoring were also assessed. Ambiguous trials elicited a relative negativity in the event-related potential waveform that was smaller than both the ERN and CRN. However, these ambiguous trials elicited increases in both theta and delta power relative to correct responses. Increased inhibitory IU was uniquely associated with diminished performance monitoring on ambiguous trials. These findings indicate ongoing performance monitoring and execution of cognitive control under conditions where the accuracy of our actions is neither known nor important.

Functional connectivity across social inclusion and exclusion is related to peer victimization and depressive symptoms in young adults.

BACKGROUND: Peer victimization is associated with increased risk for depression, as well as increased neural response to social exclusion in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the amygdala. Altered functional connectivity (FxC) of fronto-limbic circuitry is associated with risk for various affective disorders. The present study examined the relationship between fronto-limbic FxC during social exclusion, prior peer victimization experience and depressive symptoms. METHODS: Three mutually exclusive groups were formed: peer victimized (with a history of peer victimization), defenders (history of defending peers), and controls (no prior peer victimization experience) (n = 15/group; Mage = 17.7 years). Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging data were collected while participants completed the Cyberball paradigm (simulating the experience of social exclusion). FxC between the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MPFC), ACC, right insula and left amygdala, was compared between groups and examined in relation to depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Prior peer victimization experience was associated with differences in fronto-limbic FxC across social inclusion and exclusion. Defenders displayed distinct shifts in FxC across the transition from being included to excluded. Peer victimized individuals exhibited a unique pattern of amygdala-specific FxC during inclusive interaction with peers, and in the continuous FxC across inclusion and exclusion. FxC of the MPFC-amygdala across inclusion and exclusion moderated the relationship between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. LIMITATIONS: Small sample size and cross-sectional design limit interpretation of the findings. CONCLUSIONS: Peer victimized individuals who exhibit continuous positive FxC of the MPFC-left amygdala across inclusion and exclusion may be at greater risk for depressive symptoms.

Blunted neural response to appetitive images prospectively predicts symptoms of depression, and not anxiety, during the transition to university.

Individual differences in neural response to appetitive and aversive stimuli may confer vulnerability to stress-related psychopathology, including depression and anxiety. However, the specificity of this association with symptoms of depression and anxiety within the context of real-world stress is not well understood. The present study examined whether neural responses to appetitive and aversive images, measured by the late positive potential (LPP), prospectively predict symptoms of depression and/or anxiety during the transition to university-a common, major life stressor-in 70 female emerging adults. A blunted LPP to appetitive stimuli at the start of the university year was uniquely associated with greater symptoms of depression six weeks later, after controlling for time one depressive symptoms and neural responses to aversive and neutral stimuli. These findings suggest that a blunted LPP to appetitive images may be biomarker of risk for developing symptoms of depression, and not anxiety, following life stress.