Examining the Role of Pain in the Link Between Early Childhood Adversity and Psychopathology

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Child Development
• Interventions: Behavioral: Parental Support Cold Pressor Task

• Registration Number: NCT06445712
• Lead Sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to investigate the role of physical pain in the link between childhood adversity and later psychopathology. Children who are participating in a larger longitudinal study will be asked to submerge their hand in cold water and hold it in the cold water as long as possible. Participants will do this twice, once alone and once holding the hand of their parent, to examine the role of parental support in pain development. The study will examine self-report of pain and salivary cortisol response to pain. It is hypothesized that children who have been exposed to more adversity will experience increased pain response and increased psychopathology symptoms. It is expected that higher social support in the family will decrease this relationship.

Detailed Description

This study will initiate a program of prospective research, linking early life adversity to both pain and psychopathology symptoms in the pre-adolescent period. This study will examine these links using an existing longitudinal sample of 6.5-9.5 year-old children experiencing familial stress. The project will examine the relationship between dysregulation and pain sensitivity from the behavioral perspective, but also through HPA axis dysregulation. Finally, the project will probe parental support as a moderator on the relationship between dysregulation and pain and psychopathology symptoms. The project will use a novel adaptation of the cold pressor test to examine experimental pain sensitivity as a function of parental support by including a condition in which the child holds the hand of their parent during the task. The project will also examine the neural basis of social support through parent-child brain synchronization. Support for the proposed model may indicate that interventions that increase parental support might decrease both pain and psychopathology.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2024-05
• Study Start: 2024-05-01
• Study First Submitted: 2024-05-22
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-05-31
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-05-31
• Study First Posted: 2024-06-06
• Last Update Posted: 2024-06-06
• Primary Completion: 2025-04-30
• Study Completion: 2025-04-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 40

Inclusion Criteria

• Subjects who have been enrolled in our ongoing CARE study

Exclusion Criteria

• Subjects who have not participated in the CARE study

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Pain Assessment	Parental Support Cold Pressor Task	Children will submerge their hand in cold water and be asked to hold it in as long as possible. They will do this both alone and holding the hand of a parent (counterbalanced).

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Pain Sensitivity	0-60 seconds after experiencing stimulus	Self-reported score on the Visual Analogue Scale for Pain. Participants use a physical sliding scale to indicate how much pain they experienced \[ higher numbers are equal to more pain; (no pain (0-4 mm), mild pain(5-44 mm), moderate pain (45-74 mm), and severe pain (75-100 mm)\]
Pain Tolerance	0-120 seconds	Time hand is held in cold water

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Laboratory for Child Brain Development; 🇺🇸 Saint Louis, Missouri, United States