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Completed

NCT Number: NCT02013401

Transmission of Mother-Infant Stress Communication

The central aim of this study is to assess mother-infant communication via behavioral, physiological, and affective indices under conditions where distal stressors may not be directly detectable by the infant.

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Key information

Conditions

Stress Behavior Emotional Regulation Self-Control Social Behavior

Age range

18 year–40 year

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Observational

Primary location

University of Mass. Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

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About this study

This investigation examines a distal maternal stressor on the quality of interaction in mother-infant dyadic communication. Assessments include behavioral, physiological, and affective indices under conditions where distal stressors may not be directly detectable by the infant. The present research examines mother-infant interactions to test the hypothesis of whether maternal stress may be transduced to their infants via multiple pathways. The secondary aim is to explore effective emotion regulation strategies for the mother as potential buffers to stress and additionally reducing early life stress effects on the infant's regulatory development.

While the emotion regulation literature posits that reappraisal may be associated with decreased in physiological and psychological stress, this type of regulation strategy may be ineffective when interfacing with discrimination. The regulation strategy needs to be titrated to the stressor in order to be effective. These findings will have notable social, clinical, and psychological significance,

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Healthy volunteers

Exclusion criteria

  • No presence of heart murmur or wear a pacemaker
  • No medication for hypertensive or cardiovascular disease
  • Not using beta blockers

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. Salivary Cortisol

    Time frame: One lab appointment for approximately 80 minutes.

    Salivary cortisol is a measure that indicates hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. The study obtains 4 assessments with 20 minutes between each assessment. Participants chew on a cotton role for 2-minutes which is placed in a cortisol salivette tube (Sarstedt)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Salivary Amylase

    Time frame: One lab appointment for approximately 80 minutes.

    Salivary amylase is an indicator of sympathetic nervous system activity. The same salivary salivette is used to later extract the amylase.

Other outcomes

  1. Mother-infant observations

    Time frame: One lab appointment for approximately 80 minutes.

    At four assessment occasions during the one time visit, the mother and infant are observed for a free 2-minute period. Observations include global affect, and (present or not) vocalizations, infant fussiness, and motor activity.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Massachusetts, Boston

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Transmission of Discrimination-Related Stress Reactivity and Reduction From Mother to Infant

Acronym: MIBLS

Important dates

Study start
2013
Primary completion
2016
Study completion
2016
First posted
Dec 17, 2013
Registry last updated
Oct 18, 2018

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

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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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