Clinical Research Directory

Experimental Evidence of the Impact of Parental Income on Child Mental Health and Neuroimmune Function

Growing up in a lower-income family robustly predicts worse mental health in adolescence and early adulthood. How does variability in family income "get under the skin" of the developing child and via what mechanisms does it increase risk for mental illness? Moreover, could supplements to family income at critical developmental periods help to prevent later youth mental illness? To address these questions, we leverage an innovative existing double blind randomized controlled trial of 3-years of substantial income supplements to parents. By experimentally studying the impacts of these income supplements on families and subsequent youth development, we can examine causal pathways from family income to risk for mental illness via family stress and neuroimmune mechanisms in ways never done before. Moreover, by measuring the longer-term impact of 3 years of income supplements to parents on their child's neuroimmune signaling and risk for mental illness, we can examine the policy implications for child development of unconditional cash transfers to parents and identify how and for whom these supplements help. We will test these basic and translational questions in a sample of 1,200 youth with lower-income parents randomly assigned to receive either a substantial monthly income supplement or a minimal monthly supplement for 3 years, starting when youth were between age 5 - 14 years old. We will follow up with youth and their parent 1 - 2 and 3 - 4 years after the intervention and examine whether income supplements predict better youth mental health during adolescence, as well as whether factors like child age and neighborhood quality modulate intervention effects. Additionally, we explore family stress mechanisms through which the intervention may impact child mental health. Finally, we will measure peripheral inflammation (inflammatory biomarkers and classical monocytes) and use MRI to assess threat, reward, and regulatory neural activity and connectivity among 500 of these youth. Our central hypothesis is that income supplements will decrease family and youth stress and improve parenting, which will improve neuroimmune signaling and decrease risk for psychopathology. Moreover, these effects will remain years after termination of the transfers and be strongest among families who received the intervention earlier in the child's life. This research will provide timely, relevant public health knowledge that will help policy makers understand the longer-term brain, immune, and mental health impacts of cash transfers to parents, while also advancing the science of the sociocontextual and neuroimmune pathways through which variability in family income impacts risk for psychopathology.

Rejection Sensitivity and Puberty in Mental Health Vulnerability to Social Media Experiences in Early Adolescent Girls

This longitudinal study is designed to test bidirectional relationships between preteen girls' mental health and social media experiences. We will explore how pubertal development and experiences of rejection influence these relationships.

An Evidence-based Family Support Program for Parents and Children in Palestine: A Theory-based Intervention

Few evidence-based programs exist to support children and families affected by sociopolitical conflict, despite documented evidence of their heightened risk for emotional and behavioral adjustment problems associated with exposure to conflict and violence at multiple levels of the social ecology (e.g., political, community, and family). Thus, a critical need exists for an evidence-based program to ameliorate the impact of political violence on the overall well-being of children and families. The current study will conduct a rigorous evaluation of a theoretically-driven, family-based intervention program in Palestine, including both the West Bank and Gaza. Firmly grounded in the cultural context of Palestine but with broad implications for individuals exposed to sociopolitical violence, the long-term goal of this project is to provide a family-focused intervention program (Promoting Positive Family Futures; PPFF) that may facilitate individuals' sense of safety and support in the context of chronic adversity. The objective is to evaluate this intervention program in the context of a randomized clinical trial (RCT) in the West Bank and Gaza (N=300). The central hypothesis is that the program will have direct positive effects on family conflict, parent psychopathology and parental security in the family as well as on adolescent emotional security in the family, with cascading effects on adolescent adjustment. Consistent with family systems theory, we further hypothesize that treatment effects on parents will mediate on the effects of the treatment on adolescent adjustment. The rationale is that bolstering resilience in family systems is a key approach to promoting positive functioning in families exposed to chronic violence. The hypothesis will be evaluated with three specific aims: 1) evaluate the efficacy of an evidence-based family support program; 2) examine process models of treatment change, and 3) examine interrelations between parent and child functioning. To achieve these aims, the study will be an RCT employing a longitudinal design (N=300) with multi-method assessments at baseline (T1), post-test (T2), 6-month follow-up (T3) and 12-month follow-up (T4). Families included in the study will be evenly divided between the West Bank (n=150) and Gaza Strip (n=150). Families will be randomized into the intervention condition (PPFF) or treatment as usual (TAU). Each territory will have an implementing partner, and implementing partners and investigators will work together to ensure the study procedures are implemented in parallel across sites. Data collection will be conducted by trained research staff from a third-party survey and policy research organization. The proposal seeks to shift current research and clinical paradigms in these contexts by employing novel theoretical concepts, approaches, and methodologies. The contribution will be significant by 1) further developing new directions for empirically-based interventions in these high-risk contexts, and 2) advancing a relatively brief, cost-effective program that can be readily implemented to help children and families exposed to continuing conflict in Palestine, with the potential to be brought to scale in other contexts.

Early Institutionalization Intervention Impact Project

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of early intervention (placement into foster care, and a caregiving training) on physical, cognitive, social and brain development and psychiatric symptomatology in children place in out-of-home care.

Beneficial or Fostering Future Struggles (B.F.F.s)? Characterizing the Role of Friends in the Development of 13- to 17-Year-Old Adolescents

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate how the friendship experiences of maltreated (i.e., abused and/or neglected) and non-maltreated adolescents differentially influence their risk for adverse outcomes. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. How do the friendships of maltreated adolescents differ from those of non-maltreated adolescents? 2. Which friendship experiences influence the associations between maltreatment and ability to regulate stress, as well as future mental health difficulties and revictimization? Participants will: * Attend the initial study visit on the campus of the University of South Carolina with their primary caregiver and a best friend during which they will: * Complete study questionnaires * Be connected to a device that records their physical ability to manage stress * Complete a task during which they will be audio and video recorded and complete a brief assessment rating how they are feeling at different times during task completion * Depending on which research group they are placed in, be assigned to discuss their experience doing this task with their friend (intervention group) or sit quietly in a room for 5 minutes (comparison group) * The follow-up study visit will involve completion of study questionnaires online or via mail 6 months later Additionally, the participant's caregiver and friend will complete study questionnaires. Researchers will compare the intervention group (debriefs with a friend) and comparison group (sits quietly for 5 minutes) to see if the presence of and discussion with the friend influences their physical ability to regulate stress and future outcomes.