Development of Reward Circuitry During Adolescence: Depression, Social Context, and Considerations for Future Research on Disparities in Sexual and Gender Minority Youth

Abstract

Depression is a common and debilitating psychiatric illness that typically emerges in adolescence and impacts mental, social, and academic well-being. Significant research has examined the biological factors implicated in adolescent depression, converging on the specific importance of altered dopamine neurotransmission and neural reward—including social reward—systems. Neural reward systems are themselves likely influenced by social factors and risk factors for depression, with adolescent depression potentially developing more readily in those who experience a combination of neural and social factors. Here we review the role of dopamine and neural reward systems, consider the social factors that impact these systems, and propose a model for the interaction of reward and dopamine systems with social influences as a pathway to depression. Using this model, we highlight possible mechanisms for the development of depression in sexual and gender minority youth, a population at exceedingly high risk for depression.