Social versus non-social behavioral inhibition: Differential prediction from early childhood of long-term psychosocial outcomes

Social effort discounting reveals domain-general and social-specific motivation components

BACKGROUND

Social motivation is crucial for healthy interpersonal connections and is impaired in a subset of the general population and across many psychiatric disorders. However, compared to nonsocial (e.g., monetary) motivation, social motivation has been understudied in quantitative behavioral work, especially regarding willingness to exert social effort. We developed a novel social effort discounting task, paired with a monetary task to examine motivational specificity. We expected social task performance would relate to general motivation also show selective relationships with self-reported avoidance tendencies and with sociality.

METHODS

An analyzed sample of 397 participants performed the social and nonsocial effort discounting task online, along with self-report measures of various aspects of motivation and psychiatric symptomatology.

RESULTS

Social and nonsocial task motivation correlated strongly (rho=0.71 p<0.001). Both social and nonsocial task motivation related similarly to self-reported general motivation (social ß=0.16; nonsocial ß=0.13) and to self-reported approach motivation (social ß=0.14; nonsocial ß=0.11), with this common effect captured by a significant main effect across social and nonsocial conditions. Significant condition interaction effects supported a selective relationship of social task motivation with self-reported sociality and also with avoidance motivation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our novel social effort discounting task revealed both domain-general and social-specific components of motivation. In combination with other measures, this approach can facilitate further investigation of common and dissociable neurobehavioral mechanisms, in order to better characterize normative and pathological variation and develop personalized interventions targeting specific contributors to social impairment.

Context-dependent approach and avoidance behavioral profiles as predictors of psychopathology

Inhibition (a temperamental profile characterized by elevated levels of avoidance behaviors) is associated with increased likelihood for developing anxiety and depression, whereas exuberance (a temperamental profile characterized by elevated levels of approach behaviors) is associated with increased likelihood for developing externalizing conditions (e.g., attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder). However, not all children who exhibit high levels of approach or avoidance behaviors develop emotional or behavioral problems. In this preregistered study, we assessed context-dependent profiles of approach and avoidance behaviors in 3-year-old children (N = 366). Using latent profile analysis, four groups were identified: nonsocial approachers, social approachers, social avoiders, and nonsocial avoiders. Analyses revealed that there were minimal differences in internalizing and externalizing symptoms across the four context-dependent groups. However, exploratory analyses assessed whether high levels of approach or avoidance combined across contexts, similar to findings reported in prior work, were related to psychopathology. Children identified as high in avoidance behavior at 3 years of age were more likely to show internalizing symptoms at 3 years of age but not at 5 years of age. Children high in approach were more likely to meet criteria for anxiety and externalizing disorders by age 5 years. These findings further our understanding of individual differences in how young children adjust their behavior based on contextual cues and may inform methods for identifying children at increased likelihood for the development of emotional and behavioral problems. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Context-dependent approach and avoidance profiles were identified in 3-year-old children using a person-centered approach. Children who were high in approach behavior, regardless of context, at age three had a higher likelihood for developing an anxiety or externalizing disorder by age five. These findings may help identify children at increased risk of developing emotional and behavioral problems.