@article{ref1,
title="Risk-taking to obtain reward: sex differences and associations with emotional and depressive symptoms in a nationally representative cohort of UK adolescents",
journal="Psychological medicine",
year="2021",
author="Roiser, Jonathan and Srinivasan, Ramya and Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne and Lewis, Glyn and Flouri, Eirini and Lewis, Gemma",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Cognitive mechanisms that characterize or precede depressive symptoms are poorly understood. We investigated cross-sectional and longitudinal associations  between risk taking to obtain reward and adolescent depressive symptoms in a large  prospective cohort, using the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT). We also explored sex  differences. <br><br>METHODS: The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is an ongoing UK study,  following the lives of 19 000 individuals born 2000/02. The CGT was completed at  ages 11 (n = 12 355) and 14 (n = 10 578). Our main exposure was the proportion of  points gambled, when the odds of winning were above chance (risk-taking to obtain  reward). Outcomes were emotional symptoms (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire,  SDQ) at age 11 and depressive symptoms (short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, sMFQ)  at age 14. We calculated cross-sectional and longitudinal associations, using linear  regressions. <br><br>RESULTS: In univariable models, there was evidence of cross-sectional  associations between risk-taking and SDQ/sMFQ scores, but these associations  disappeared after we adjusted for sex. Longitudinally, there was weak evidence of an  association between risk-taking and depressive symptoms in females only [a 20-point  increase in risk-taking at age 11 was associated with a reduction of 0.31 sMFQ  points at age 14 (95% CI -0.60 to -0.02)]. At both time-points, females were less  risk-taking than males. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: We found no convincing evidence of a  relationship between risk-taking to obtain reward and depressive symptoms. There  were large sex differences in risk-taking, but these do not appear to contribute to  the female preponderance of depressive symptoms in adolescence.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0033-2917",
doi="10.1017/S0033291720005000",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720005000"
}