Clinical trial NCT04311996: Does Social Buffering Continue to be Effective Over the Peripubertal Period When Friends Share the Stressor Experience?
Official title: Does Social Buffering Continue to be Effective Over the Peripubertal Period When Friends Share the Stressor Experience?
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Adolescent Behavior
Social Stress
Lead sponsor: University of Minnesota
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-03-17
Enrollment: 269
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 11
Maximum age (years): 14
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

Brief summary: The purpose of this experiment is to determine whether social buffering by friends of stress physiology remains effective later in puberty when friends share the load versus when they provide support but are not undergoing the stressor with the target child. There are four conditions: (1) Friend and Target both undergo the stressor, (2) Friend provides support but does not undergo the stressor, (3) Unfamiliar Peer and Target undergo the stressor, and (4) Alone (no partner).

Detailed description: Adolescents experience social evaluation stress frequently. However, it is likely that often they are not alone, but with friends who are also going through the same experience. Thus, it is possible that under these conditions, social buffering by friends does not wane over the peripubertal period. Participants will be assigned to social conditions while engaging in an evaluative stressor task.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* sufficient vision, hearing, and language skills to provide verbal and written assent
* ability to see and read stimuli presented on the computer screen
* ability to hear verbal instructions provided by the experimenter and judges

Exclusion Criteria:

* premature birth (less than 37 weeks)
* congenital and/or chromosomal disorders (e.g. cerebral palsy, FAS, mental retardation, Turner Syndrome, Down Syndrome, Fragile X)
* Autism Spectrum Disorders
* history of serious medical illness (e.g., cancer, organ transplant)
* serious psychiatric illness
* systemic glucocorticoids or beta-adrenergic medication use

Primary outcomes:
measure: Cortisol AUCi
timeFrame: 2 hours
measure: sAA AUCi
timeFrame: 2 hours
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Self Report of Stress
timeFrame: 2 hours
Other outcomes:
measure: Hours Since Awakening. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: day of testing session
measure: Pretax Family Income. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: calendar year previous to TSST session
measure: Parental Average Education Level. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: lifetime
measure: Number of Adults in the Home. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: day of TSST session
measure: Caffeine or Nicotine Use. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: 1-2 hours prior to TSST session
measure: Granger Score. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: day of 2 hour TSST session
measure: Quality of Relationship With Primary Parent, BSV Positive Attachment Scale. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: 2 hour TSST session
measure: Quality of Relationship With Close Friend, BSV Positive Attachment Scale. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: 2 hour TSST session
measure: Peer Acceptance/Rejection. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: 2 hour TSST session
measure: Behavioral Inhibition. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: 2 hour TSST session
measure: Internalizing Symptoms. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: 2 hour TSST session
measure: Externalizing Symptoms. Potential Covariate
timeFrame: 2 hour TSST session
Locations:
city: Minneapolis
country: United States
facility: University of Minnesota
state: Minnesota
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Minnesota
name: Megan Gunnar, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: University of Minnesota
name: Kathleen Thomas, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: