Neural correlates of vicarious reward processing in children with prolonged peer victimization experiences

Description: This preregistered study examined the neural correlates of vicarious reward processing and subsequent trust behavior in relation to prolonged experiences of victimization in late childhood. This study used a sample of children with prospective longitudinal data on peer victimization over the past two years (nbehavioral = 83, 49.4% girls, Mage = 10.6 years, n fmri = 62). Participants played an fMRI vicarious reward task in which they could win or lose money for themselves and two other peers. The two other peers were experimentally manipulated to either include or exclude the participant in a Cyberball task prior to the task. Additionally, trust in the two peers was assessed using a one-shot trust game. Results revealed ventral striatum activation when winning (versus losing) for oneself, and activation in social brain regions when playing for excluders rather than for oneself. Prolonged victimization predicted decreased ventral striatum activation during personal rewards, and increased activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex when playing for excluders rather than for oneself. Finally, prolonged victimization was associated with increased differentiation in trust toward the including and excluding peers. Together, these findings contribute to our understanding of the social cognitions and behaviors of victims of bullying.

Communities: developmental

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