Reward-sensitivity and Cognitive Control: An Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling Approach to Predicting Psychopathology

Abnormalities in reward sensitivity and cognitive control are observed in multiple psychiatric disorders. However, differences in measurement strategies for evaluating reward sensitivity and cognitive control across studies have yielded mixed findings. Despite assumptions of convergence, the correlation between survey-based and task-based assessments of these constructs remains small. In this preregistered study of data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) sample (N=11,875; ages 9-12), we found evidence for multiple cognitive control and reward sensitivity factors with modest correlations. Factors segregated by construct but also by method (task-based vs. survey), and survey rater (self vs. caregiver). Cognitive control and reward sensitivity independently predicted both internalizing and externalizing psychopathology factors two years later (Beta= 0.01 to |.605|) with multiple factors appearing transdiagnostic. Our findings highlight the complementary predictive power of these multi-method and multi-rater factors, each contributing unique information about risk for psychopathology in adolescence.