In this episode of the Mind the Kids podcast, we explore how adolescents learn from rewards and what this means for depression risk and mental health outcomes. Drawing on longitudinal research from the Temple Adolescent Development Study, our guest breaks down the complex science of reward processing, anhedonia, and reinforcement learning in young people.

Anhedonia—defined as a reduced ability to experience pleasure—is a key symptom across multiple mental health conditions, including depression, and is linked to poorer long-term outcomes. But what actually drives these changes in reward responsiveness during adolescence? And how do differences in learning from rewards and punishments shape emotional development?

We discuss cutting-edge findings using the Iowa Gambling Task and computational modelling to better understand how reward learning evolves between ages 9 and 17. The conversation highlights how adolescents may fine-tune their learning strategies over time, and why subtle differences—particularly in young people at higher risk of depression due to parental history—could have meaningful implications.

This episode is essential listening for clinicians, researchers, and anyone interested in child and adolescent mental health, offering evidence-based insights into how reward systems develop and how they may inform early identification and intervention strategies.

Read the JCPP paper 'Reward-specific learning parameters change across normative adolescent development and are blunted in youth with high risk for depression' at https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70086
Holly Sullivan-Toole, Jeremy M. Haynes, Helen Schmidt, Bart Larsen, Nathaniel Haines, Thomas M. Olino
First published: 22 December 2025

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