Stress Trajectories and Anhedonia in Adolescence Research Study

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Anhedonia, Stress Response, Adolescent Development

In brief

This project will examine how multiple biological measures from the brain and the body's stress response system contribute to anhedonia (the loss of pleasure) in adolescence. The goal of this project is to see if it is possible to combine these biological measures to describe different patterns of activity in the brain and body that adolescents may have in response to stress. The main question this study aims to answer is whether different patterns of activity in the brain and body are related to whether adolescents develop anhedonia and how high or low levels of anhedonia are over time. This study will enroll 192 adolescents who are between 13 and 15 years. Adolescents will complete tasks three times: at the beginning of the study, 10 months after that, and then 10 months after that. In total, they will be part of the study for 20 months. At each time, adolescents will complete surveys, provide samples of spit to measure hormones and provide pictures of their brain to measure brain activity, participate in mildly stressful tasks, and complete different activities that measure how they think. The investigators will also ask each adolescent's parent or legal guardian to answer some surveys about themselves and their child.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07040449

Run by

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

People needed

192

Starts

2025-03-12

Expected to finish

2030-02-01

Last updated by the study team

2025-06-27

Who can join

Age: 13 and older, up to 15. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Age 13-15 years old at study entry
• Ability to understand and sign an assent form
• Meets study hearing and vision requirements

You may not qualify if…

• Current use of antipsychotic medication
• Current use of medications that would interfere with cardiovascular or endocrine assessments
• Metal in the body or other MRI exclusion
• Central nervous system disorder or brain injury that could confound brain imaging evaluations
• Presence of a medical condition that would interfere with cardiovascular or endocrine assessments
• Impaired intellectual functioning
• Diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disability

Where it is running

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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