Peer-reviewed article

Early parenting is associated with the development of neural reward responsiveness from childhood through adolescence.

Hill KE, Bean CAL, Abitante G, Lawhead C, Szenczy AK et al. · 21 Jul 2026

Abstract

Reward responsiveness plays an important role in promoting health and well-being in youth. Understanding associations between early experiences and variation in the typical developmental trajectory of reward responsiveness is essential to identifying potential pathways to health. We examined developmental trajectories of the reward positivity, a neurophysiological indicator of reward responsiveness, across 4 assessments in late childhood through late adolescence in 465 youth. We estimated growth curves and assessed parenting, observed via parent-child interactions, and stress exposure at age 3, as early environmental predictors of reward positivity trajectories. The reward positivity to win and loss feedback showed a quadratic trajectory of change across childhood and adolescence. Lower positive parenting and higher negative parenting predicted a reduced increase in the reward positivity to win feedback over time; stress exposure associations were smaller and statistically non-significant. Together, results suggest a link between early parenting and reward development across childhood through adolescence.