Recent studies suggest that reward anticipation decreases individuals’ acute stress responses. However, individuals who have experienced early life stress (ELS) may have a blunted capacity for reward anticipation, which reduces its buffering effect on psychosocial stress responses. To investigate this phenomenon, 66 young adults completed the Trier Social Stress Test following a reward anticipation task, and their ELS levels were measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Meanwhile, the current study collected biological and psychological measures of stress by analysing cortisol levels, heart rates, heart rate variability (HRV) as well as subjective stress levels, in response to the Trier Social Stress test. Results showed that reward anticipation successfully decreased acute stress responses in general, and it also improved participants’ HRV. However, this effect was more evident in individuals with low ELS than those with high ELS. These findings help us deepen understanding of the role of reward anticipation in fostering resilience under stress and the potentially important implications for individuals who have been exposed to ELS are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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早期生活压力缓和了奖励预期对急性心理社会压力反应的影响

最近的研究表明，奖励预期会降低个体的急性压力反应。然而，经历过早期生活压力 (ELS) 的人可能对奖励预期的能力减弱，这会降低其对社会心理压力反应的缓冲作用。为了调查这一现象，66 名年轻人在完成奖励预期任务后完成了特里尔社会压力测试，并使用儿童创伤问卷 (CTQ) 测量了他们的 ELS 水平。同时，当前的研究通过分析皮质醇水平、心率、心率变异性（HRV）以及主观压力水平来收集压力的生物学和心理测量，以响应特里尔社会压力测试。结果表明，奖励预期总体上成功地减少了急性应激反应，它还提高了参与者的 HRV。然而，这种效应在 ELS 低的个体中比 ELS 高的个体更明显。这些发现有助于我们加深对奖励预期在促进压力下的复原力中的作用的理解，并且还讨论了对暴露于 ELS 的个人的潜在重要影响。