NCT04211155

Neural Correlates of the Shift in Social Buffering of Social Evaluative Threat

Neural Correlates of the Shift in Social Buffering of Social Evaluative Threat in 11-14 Year Olds

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 208 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Minnesota · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 11 Years – 14 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the mechanisms through which parental buffering of stress physiology in response to social evaluative threat diminishes with pubertal development and whether this diminution of effectiveness extends to social buffering by peers (best friends) and/or other unfamiliar social partners (e.g., experimenters).

Detailed description

On visit one, the participant will 1) be seen by a nurse who will complete a pubertal assessment exam, 2) complete questionnaires, including ones on pubertal development, screening for MRI safety, and quality of relations with parents and friends. The participant will also have a chance to experience a simulated MRI in order to determine whether they will be comfortable in an actual MRI. Within 2 weeks the participant will return to the University where undergo the following protocol. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of 4 conditions that differ by who is with them in the scanner room: Primary Parent, Close Friend, Experimenter, No Social Partner. (N=50 per condition, 25 male, 25 female). Once at the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, participants and the individual who will be with the participant in the scanning room will undergo an MRI safety screening (the repeat of what the investigators completed over the phone). Girls will be shown to a changing room where the investigators will privately question them about any possibility of pregnancy. Participants will be shown into the scanning control room and one more safety check will be performed before they enter the scanner room and the scanner. If they are in one of the social buffering conditions, the social buffering partner will also enter the scanning room and will sit to the side of the scanner. The scanning bed will then be moved into the barrel of the MRI machine. The participant will be wearing head phones to protect his/her hearing and to receive instructions from the control room. The participant will also be able to see two judges and hear the judges instructions when the participant is in the scanning control room. The participant will then complete a variant or the Trier Social Stress Test, a social evaluative stressor, which produces elevations in heart rate and cortisol. When saliva is collected, the scanning bed is withdrawn from the barrel of the MRI machine and the participant will be able to see and briefly interact with the social partner while saliva is sampled for steroid collection. Once the scan is over the participant will return to a waiting area and complete additional questionnaires, provide additional saliva samples, and another urine sample.

Conditions

• Social Stress
• Adolescent Behavior

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Questionnaires	The participant will complete questionnaires, including ones on pubertal development and quality of relations with parents and friends.
OTHER	MRI	Within 2 weeks of the first study visit, the participant will return to the University where they will undergo MRI.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-10-18
• Primary completion: 2023-06-24
• Completion: 2023-06-24
• First posted: 2019-12-26
• Last updated: 2026-03-30
• Results posted: 2025-03-27

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States