Peer-reviewed article

Blunted Reward Responsiveness During Social Feedback: Associations with Peer Victimization and Anhedonia in Socially Anxious Adolescents.

Corinne N Carlton, Ligia Antezana, John A Richey · 1 Aug 2026

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The present pilot study aimed to (1) Characterize neural markers of reward sensitivity during periods of social stress; (2) Evaluate clinical relations between neural reward markers and anhedonia; and (3) Investigate if peer victimization was associated with ventral striatum (VS) suppression and anhedonia symptoms during social stress. METHODS: A total of 28 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 (Mage = 15.31; SD = 1.51; 55.2% cisgender girls) were included in analyses and completed a semi-structured interview, self-report questionnaires regarding social anxiety, stress, depression, and anhedonia, and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan while engaging in the Island Getaway task. VS BOLD signal activation estimates were then extracted during discrete phases of the task (e.g., anticipation of social feedback and outcome of social feedback) and statistically compared within-subjects. RESULTS: Results revealed that when in the presence of social stress (defined as the potential for negative feedback), socially anxious adolescents demonstrated significantly suppressed VS activation relative to feedback anticipation. Additionally, the reduced VS activation during the outcome phase was significantly correlated with anhedonia. Moreover, relational peer victimization was associated with suppressed VS activation. CONCLUSIONS: Findings identify novel mechanisms associated with anhedonia and blunted reward processing in socially anxious youth that could be improved via interventions that target positive-valence systems.