Does Social Buffering Continue to be Effective Over the Peripubertal Period When Friends Share the Stressor Experience?

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Adolescent Behavior
Social Stress

Interventions: Other: Questionnaires
Other: TSST

Registration Number: NCT04311996

Lead Sponsor: University of Minnesota

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.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 269

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

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Friend and Target Both	TSST	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).
Friend Provides Support	Questionnaires	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).
Unfamiliar Peer and Target	Questionnaires	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).
Unfamiliar Peer and Target	TSST	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).
Friend Provides Support	TSST	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).
Alone	Questionnaires	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).
Friend and Target Both	Questionnaires	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).
Alone	TSST	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).

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Cortisol AUCi	2 hours	Cortisol response to the TSST, measured as Area Under the Curve, increase from baseline. 7 Samples were taken during the course of the assessment, at (1) arrival for training purposes; (2) after the calming video, 30 minutes after arrival; (3) after 5 minutes of speech preparation; (4) after 10+minutes of speech and math performance; (5) 15 minutes after sample 4; (6) 10 minutes after sample 5; (7) 10 minutes after sample 6. Area under the curve at intercept (AUCi) is calculated using samples 2-7 with sample 2 as the intercept.
sAA AUCi	2 hours	Salivary Alpha Amylase response to the TSST, measured as Area Under the Curve, increase from baseline. 7 Samples were taken during the course of the assessment, at (1) arrival for training purposes; (2) after the calming video, 30 minutes after arrival; (3) after 5 minutes of speech preparation; (4) after 10+minutes of speech and math performance; (5) 15 minutes after sample 4; (6) 10 minutes after sample 5; (7) 10 minutes after sample 6. Of those, samples (2, 4, 5) are assayed for salivary alpha amylase (sAA) in micrograms per milliliter. Area under the curve at intercept (AUCi) is calculated using samples 2, 4, 5 with sample 2 as the intercept.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Self Report of Stress	2 hours	Self-report of stress using a Likert-type scale with 5 levels of stress felt: (1) Not At All, (2) A Little, (3) Some, (4) A Lot, (5) A Whole Lot. Level of stress was reported for at these points during the assessment: (1) How stressed did you feel when you first connected on the video call and saw the experimenter?, (2) How stressful was the period of time before we started the video?, (3) How stressful did you feel while watching the video?, (4) How stressful was the period of time when you were preparing your speech and thinking about what to say?, (5) How stressful was giving the speech?, (6) How stressful was the math portion?, (7) How stressed do you feel now, after the speech and math portions are done? Self reported stress was computed as the mean of items (4, 5, 6) - item 1.