Behavioral impulsivity moderates the relationship between acute stress and reward sensitivity

Extant evidence for the relationship between stress and reward sensitivity is inconsistent in direction. The current study aims to offer one explanation for this discrepancy by examining the moderating role of impulsivity. We recruited two groups of participants, who were given a physical stressor (Maastricht Acute Stress Test) and a socio-evaluative stressor (Montreal Imaging Stress Task), respectively (NMAST = 152, NMIST = 192). Combining results from both groups, we found that acute stress blunted reward processing for participants who scored high on behavioral impulsivity in comparison to those who scored low. This moderation effect, however, was not significant for trait impulsivity. Our findings suggest that behavioral measures of impulsivity may be uniquely sensitive to subtle situational factors leading to stress-induced changes in impulsive action.