These limitations notwithstanding, the present study suggests that blunted VS reactivity to reward may render individuals vulnerable to stress-related anhedonia, which, in turn, confers risk for other depressive symptoms as well as substance-related coping and problematic alcohol use. While these findings shed light on potential mechanisms underlying relative risk or resilience for stress-related psychopathology, longitudinal research is needed to more clearly define specific roles of these mechanisms in the onset and course of psychopathology. Last, in light of the independent effects of recent life stress effects from ELS, as well as work demonstrating that acute stress can induce hedonic deficits (Berenbaum & Connelly, 1993; Bogdan & Pizzagalli, 2006) and influence reward-related neural circuitry (Bogdan et al. 2011; Porcelli et al. 2012; Lewis et al. 2014), it will be important to examine how ELS may influence reward-related reactivity following recent/acute stress to predict psychiatrically relevant brain function and behavior.
