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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05820659

Racial Discrimination and Stress Response

The goal of this study is to learn about whether ethnic minority adolescents' racial discrimination experience is related to dysregulated biological responses to subtle racism, and how the relationship may be attenuated or exacerbated by a set of social and cognitive factors. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* to reveal the relationship between racial discrimination experiences and ethnic minority adolescents' stress response to subtle racism * to test parental ethnic-racial socialization, children's attribution to subtle racism and their racial identity as potential risk and protective factors.

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Key information

Conditions

Stress Reaction; Acute Mental Disorders Stress Disorders, Traumatic Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders

Age range

9 year–99 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, Kentucky, 42101, United States

About this study

Racial discrimination experiences constitute significant risks for ethnic minority youth's physical and mental health problems. One explanation poses that chronic stress can lead to altered, dysregulated stress responses, which can make individuals susceptible to health problems. Currently, there is no experimental study that comprehensively measure ethnic minority youth's stress response to subtle racism, or investigate the contributing roles of racial discrimination experience and possible risk and protective factors.

A community sample of 9-14-year-old ethnic minority adolescents (40 Latino American, 40 Black/African American) will be recruited. The study employs an adapted peer rejection task which has been widely used with youth, and carefully designed to elicit the experience of subtle racial discrimination from White peers. Adolescents' cardiovascular activity and saliva samples will be taken at multiple time points before, during, and after the peer rejection task, tapping on response involving hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, autonomic nervous system (ANS), and inflammatory mediator (IM). Adolescents will report their racial discrimination experience, make attribution about the peer rejection experience, report emotional experience, and rate their racial identity. Adolescents will complete an impossible puzzle task to elicit cognitive stress, during which they will be asked to fit all puzzle pieces into a wooden frame with a wrong piece provided. Their cardiovascular activity, attribution, and emotional experience in response to the impossible puzzle task will be measured. Parents will complete a questionnaire to report their ethnic-racial socialization practices. Adolescents will rate on their ethnic-racial identity via a questionnaire.

The goals of this proposal are: 1) Reveal the relationship between racial discrimination experiences and ethnic minority adolescents' stress response to subtle racism as well as to cognitive stress; and 2) Test parental ethnic-racial socialization, children's attribution to subtle racism and their racial identity as potential risk and protective factors.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • 9-14 years old
  • identified as Latino American or Black/African American
  • Living in Warren county of Kentucky
  • with parent consent
  • parents of adolescent participants

Exclusion criteria

Adolescents will not participate in the peer rejection task when they report to have:

  • frequent experiences of peer victimization
  • frequent experiences of racial discrimination
  • severe depression
  • severe social anxiety disorder
  • severe generalized anxiety disorder
  • limited English reading competence to understand the task instruction

Treatment and study plan

peer rejection task, conversation about peer rejection, and impossible puzzle task

Behavioral

Peer rejection task: Adolescents will be informed that two peers will take turns to choose who they will chat with for different topics. Participants will not be chosen by virtual White peers 75% of the time. In reality, White peers are computerized avatars and whether or not adolescents are chosen by those peers is programmed with PsychoPy software.

Conversation about peer rejection: parents and adolescents will discuss the peer rejection task guided with suggested question prompts.

Impossible puzzle task: Adolescents will be asked to fit all puzzle pieces into a wooden frame with a wrong piece provided.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Mean Arterial Pressure for Peer Rejection

    Time frame: baseline (5 minute before to right before the task), during (start to the end of the task), and post-task (right after to 45 minutes after the peer rejection task)

    adolescents' diastolic and systolic blood pressure will be continuously monitored.

  2. Change in Stress Hormones for Peer Rejection

    Time frame: five time points (right before, 5 minutes after, 15 minutes after, 30 minutes after, and 45 minutes after the peer rejection task)

    adolescents' salivary samples will be collected, frozen, and assayed for cortisol.

  3. Change in Inflammatory Biomarker of Interleukin 6 for Peer Rejection

    Time frame: five time points (right before, 5 minutes after, 15 minutes after, 30 minutes after, and 45 minutes after the peer rejection task)

    adolescents' salivary samples will be collected, frozen, and assayed for inflammatory biomarker of Interleukin-6

  4. Change in Inflammatory Biomarker of C-reactive Protein for Peer Rejection

    Time frame: adolescents' salivary samples will be collected at five time points (right before, 5 minutes after, 15 minutes after, 30 minutes after, and 45 minutes after the peer rejection task)

    adolescents' salivary samples will be collected, frozen, and assayed for inflammatory biomarker of C-reactive protein

  5. Attribution About the Peer Rejection for Peer Rejection

    Time frame: immediately after the 5-minute peer rejection task ends

    participants will complete the questionnaire, Attribution About The Peer Rejection (AATPR) to rate the likelihood of various reasons for the experience of peer rejection using a 7-point scale. The higher total score for the 4 racial reasons (possible range: 4-28) indicates the higher tendency of making racial attribution about the peer rejection.

  6. Emotional Experience for Peer Rejection

    Time frame: immediately after the 5-minute peer rejection task ends

    adolescents will complete the questionnaire, Emotions In The Peer Rejection (EITPR) to rate the emotional experiences in the peer rejection task using a 7-point scale. The higher total score for 5 sets of emotion terms (possible range: 5-35) indicates the higher levels of negative emotions in the peer rejection task.

  7. Change in Skin Conductance Activity for Peer Rejection

    Time frame: baseline (5 minutes before to right before the task), during (start to end of the task), first post-task (right after to 15 minutes after) and second post-task (15 to 45 minutes after) the peer rejection task

    adolescents' skin conductance will be continuously monitored for the peer rejection task.

  8. Change in Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia for Peer Rejection

    Time frame: baseline (5 minutes before to right before the task), during (start to the end of the task), first post-task (right after to 15 minutes after the task) and second post-task (15 to 45 minutes after the task)

    adolescents' electrocardiogram data that can be used to extract respiratory sinus arrhythmia, heart rate variability in synchrony with respiration, will be continuously monitored for the peer rejection task.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Mean Arterial Pressure for Impossible Puzzle

    Time frame: baseline (5 minutes before to right before the task), during (start to end of the task), and post-task (right after to 15 minutes after the task)

    adolescents' systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be continuously monitored for the impossible puzzle task

  2. Emotional Experience for Impossible Puzzle

    Time frame: immediately after the 5-minute impossible puzzle task ends

    adolescents will complete the questionnaire, Emotions In The Impossible Puzzle (EITIP) to rate the emotional experiences in the impossible puzzle task using a 7-point scale. The higher total score for 5 sets of emotion terms (possible range: 5-35) indicates the higher levels of negative emotions in the impossible puzzle task

  3. Attribution for Impossible Puzzle

    Time frame: immediately after the 5-minute impossible puzzle task ends

    adolescents will complete the questionnaire, Attribution About The Impossible Puzzle (AATIP) to rate the likelihood of various reasons for the experience of not being able to complete the puzzle using a 7-point scale. The higher total score for the 3 intrinsic reasons (possible range: 3-21) indicates the higher tendency of making intrinsic attribution about performance in the impossible puzzle task.

  4. Change in Skin Conductance for Impossible Puzzle

    Time frame: baseline (5 minutes before to right before the task), during (start to end of the task), and post (right after to 15 minutes after the task)

    adolescents' skin conductance will be continuously monitored for the impossible puzzle task

  5. Change in Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia for Impossible Puzzle

    Time frame: baseline (5 minutes before to right before the task), during (start to end of the task), and post-task (right after to 15 minutes after the task)

    adolescents' electrocardiogram data that can be used to extract respiratory sinus arrhythmia, heart rate variability in synchrony with respiration, will be continuously monitored for the impossible puzzle task

  6. Change in Mean Arterial Pressure for Conversation About Peer Rejection

    Time frame: baseline (2.5 minute of discussion about last night's dinner before the conversation about peer rejection), during (5 minutes about the peer rejection task)

    adolescents' diastolic and systolic blood pressure will be continuously monitored.

  7. Change in Skin Conductance Activity in Conversation About Peer Rejection

    Time frame: baseline (2.5 minutes about last night's dinner before the conversation about peer rejection), during (5 minutes discussion about peer rejection)

    adolescents' skin conductance level will be continuously monitored before and during the conversation about peer rejection.

  8. Change in Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia for Conversation About Peer Rejection

    Time frame: Baseline (2.5 minutes of discussion on last night's dinner before the conversation about peer rejection), during the task (5 minutes of discussion on peer rejection task)

    adolescents' electrocardiogram data that can be used to extract respiratory sinus arrhythmia, heart rate variability in synchrony with respiration, will be continuously monitored for the conversation about peer rejection

Interested in participating?

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Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Western Kentucky University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Racial Discrimination and Dysregulated Stress Response: Risk/Protective Factors

Important dates

Study start
2023
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2024
First posted
Apr 20, 2023
Registry last updated
Aug 17, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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