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The approach--withdrawal model posits 2 neural systems of motivation and emotion and hypothesizes that these systems are responsible for individual differences in emotional reactivity, or affective styles. The model also proposes that depression is characterized by a deficit in reward-seeking behavior (i.e., approach motivation) and is associated with a relative decrease in left frontal brain activity. The authors tested aspects of this model by comparing the electroencephalogram alpha power of depressed and nondepressed individuals during a task that manipulated approach motivation. The study found that control participants and individuals with late-onset depression exhibited the hypothesized increase in left frontal activity during the approach task but individuals with early-onset depression did not. This suggests that early-onset depression may be associated with a deficit in the hypothesized approach motivation system. Keywords: EEG asymmetry, early-onset depression, approach motivation, personality

Erectile responses were examined among 83 inner-city male adolescent perpetrators of sexual offenses whose victims were female and ranged in age from children to adults. Responses to 19 audio cues portraying sexual and nonsexual interactions were measured. Profiles were produced from the responses to female cues depicting targets of different ages. Profile classifications included: (1) Nonresponder and Minimal responder; (2) Nondiscriminator; and (3) Child, Peer, Adult & Adult-Child responder. Participants were grouped according to self-reporting of sexual and/or physical victimization as well as their admission of a sexual crime. Over half of the participants discriminated between female age categories. Although only 25 in our sample were Nonresponders, they were more likely to be subjects who denied committing any sexual crimes. Perpetrators who reported having been abused were less likely to be Nonresponders and more likely to be Nondiscriminators than non-abused participants. Since a history of victimization and denial are associated with erectile response profiles, these differences must be recognized whenever penile plethysmography is applied., The erectile responses of adolescent sex offenders were examined upon presentation of sexual and nonsexual audio cues. All the subjects had victimized females of various ages, and sexual cues depicted targets of various ages and combinations. Based on erectile responses,the adolescents were classified as either nonresponsive, nondiscriminative, andresponsive to specific cues. The nondiscriminators and responders were more likely to be victims of prior abuse. The nonresponders may have been able to suppress arousal in the laboratory. The results suggest that prior abuse history should be considered when using penile plethysmography.

This study examined whether adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) display the abnormal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetries found in depressed adults. Resting EEG was recorded in 25 right-handed female outpatients (19 with MDD, 11 of whom also had a current anxiety disorder; 6 with anxiety disorders only) and 10 non-ill controls. In contrast to the non-ill controls, adolescents having MDD but no anxiety disorder showed alpha asymmetry indicative of less activation over right than over left posterior sites. Within the MDD patient group, comorbid anxiety disorders reduced the posterior alpha asymmetry, supporting the potential importance of evaluating anxiety in studies of regional brain activation in adolescent MDD. These preliminary findings are similar to those from adult studies that suggest that MDD is associated with right parietotemporal hypoactivation.