An interventional study of peer rejection task, conversation about peer rejection, and impossible puzzle task in Stress Reaction; Acute, sponsored by Western Kentucky University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 9 Years to 99 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-17.
Sponsored by Western Kentucky University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
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:
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.
Exclusion Criteria:
Adolescents will not participate in the peer rejection task when they report to have:
Adolescents will complete an adapted peer rejection task on the computer to elicit the experience of subtle racial discrimination from White peers, then discuss the peer rejection task with parents, as well as an impossible puzzle task to elicit cognitive stress.
Behavioral: peer rejection task, conversation about peer rejection, and impossible puzzle task
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.
Change in Mean Arterial Pressure for Peer Rejection
adolescents' diastolic and systolic blood pressure will be continuously monitored.
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)
Change in Stress Hormones for Peer Rejection
adolescents' salivary samples will be collected, frozen, and assayed for cortisol.
Time frame: five time points (right before, 5 minutes after, 15 minutes after, 30 minutes after, and 45 minutes after the peer rejection task)
Change in Inflammatory Biomarker of Interleukin 6 for Peer Rejection
adolescents' salivary samples will be collected, frozen, and assayed for inflammatory biomarker of Interleukin-6
Time frame: five time points (right before, 5 minutes after, 15 minutes after, 30 minutes after, and 45 minutes after the peer rejection task)
Change in Inflammatory Biomarker of C-reactive Protein for Peer Rejection
adolescents' salivary samples will be collected, frozen, and assayed for inflammatory biomarker of C-reactive protein
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)
Attribution About the Peer Rejection for Peer Rejection
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.
Time frame: immediately after the 5-minute peer rejection task ends
Emotional Experience for Peer Rejection
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.
Time frame: immediately after the 5-minute peer rejection task ends
Change in Skin Conductance Activity for Peer Rejection
adolescents' skin conductance will be continuously monitored for the peer rejection task.
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
Change in Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia for Peer Rejection
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.
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)
Change in Mean Arterial Pressure for Impossible Puzzle
adolescents' systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be continuously monitored for the impossible puzzle task
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)
Emotional Experience for Impossible Puzzle
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
Time frame: immediately after the 5-minute impossible puzzle task ends
Attribution for Impossible Puzzle
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.
Time frame: immediately after the 5-minute impossible puzzle task ends
Change in Skin Conductance for Impossible Puzzle
adolescents' skin conductance will be continuously monitored for the impossible puzzle task
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)
Change in Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia for Impossible Puzzle
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
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)
Change in Mean Arterial Pressure for Conversation About Peer Rejection
adolescents' diastolic and systolic blood pressure will be continuously monitored.
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)
Change in Skin Conductance Activity in Conversation About Peer Rejection
adolescents' skin conductance level will be continuously monitored before and during the 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)
Change in Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia for Conversation About Peer Rejection
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
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)
| Milestone | Stress Inducing and Discussion Task |
|---|---|
| Started | 178 |
| Adolescents | 89 |
| Parents | 89 |
| Completed | 178 |
| Not completed | 0 |
| Milestone | Stress Inducing and Discussion Task |
|---|---|
| Started | 178 |
| Adolescents | 89 |
| Parents | 89 |
| Completed | 160 |
| Not completed | 18 |
| Milestone | Stress Inducing and Discussion Task |
|---|---|
| Started | 160 |
| Adolescents | 80 |
| Parents | 80 |
| Completed | 136 |
| Not completed | 24 |
adolescents' diastolic and systolic blood pressure will be continuously monitored.
| mmHg | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| baseline mean arterial pressure | 74.89 ± 6.51 |
| mean arterial pressure during the task | 78.57 ± 7.04 |
| post-task blood pressure | 77.81 ± 7.66 |
adolescents' salivary samples will be collected, frozen, and assayed for cortisol.
| μg/dL | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| stress hormone right before the task | 0.17 ± 0.08 |
| stress hormone 5 minutes after the task | 0.16 ± 0.07 |
| stress hormone 15 minutes after the task | 0.14 ± 0.07 |
| stress hormone 30 minutes after the task | 0.14 ± 0.07 |
| stress hormone 45 minutes after the task | 0.13 ± 0.06 |
adolescents' salivary samples will be collected, frozen, and assayed for inflammatory biomarker of Interleukin-6
| pg/ml | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| Interleukin-6 right before the task | 41.57 ± 86.94 |
| Interleukin-6 5 minutes after the task | 26.12 ± 55.67 |
| Interleukin-6 15 minutes after the task | 23.75 ± 56.50 |
| Interleukin-6 30 minutes after the task | 33.49 ± 87.66 |
| Interleukin-6 45 minutes after the task | 21.71 ± 40.22 |
adolescents' salivary samples will be collected, frozen, and assayed for inflammatory biomarker of C-reactive protein
| pg/ml | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| C-reactive protein 5 minutes before the task | 804.28 ± 1078.58 |
| C-reactive protein 5 minutes after the task | 571.01 ± 1060.95 |
| C-reactive protein 15 minutes after the task | 483.45 ± 824.71 |
| C-reactive protein 30 minutes after the task | 562.31 ± 982.96 |
| C-reactive protein 45 minutes after the task | 567.40 ± 1273.51 |
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.
| score on a scale | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| Attribution About the Peer Rejection for Peer Rejection | 12.71 ± 4.47 |
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.
| units on a scale | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| Emotional Experience for Peer Rejection | 14.20 ± 5.08 |
adolescents' skin conductance will be continuously monitored for the peer rejection task.
| µs | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| baseline skin conductance | 6.38 ± 5.57 |
| skin conductance during the task | 10.12 ± 8.58 |
| first post-task skin conductance | 10.84 ± 9.16 |
| second post-task skin conductance | 11.52 ± 9.72 |
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.
| milliseconds | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia | 6.97 ± 1.22 |
| respiratory sinus arrhythmia during the task | 7.27 ± 1.14 |
| first post-task respiratory sinus arrhythmia | 7.23 ± 1.21 |
| second post-task respiratory sinus arrhythmia | 7.55 ± 1.21 |
adolescents' systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be continuously monitored for the impossible puzzle task
| mmHg | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| baseline mean arterial pressure | 76.00 ± 7.40 |
| during-task mean arterial pressure during the task | 80.46 ± 8.88 |
| post-task mean arterial pressure | 77.26 ± 7.63 |
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
| units on a scale | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| Emotional Experience for Impossible Puzzle | 16.27 ± 3.05 |
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.
| units on a scale | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| Attribution for Impossible Puzzle | 10.62 ± 4.34 |
adolescents' skin conductance will be continuously monitored for the impossible puzzle task
| µs | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| baseline skin conductance | 6.55 ± 5.21 |
| skin conductance during the task | 8.83 ± 6.86 |
| post-task skin conductance | 10.21 ± 8.24 |
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
| milliseconds | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia | 7.41 ± 1.22 |
| respiratory sinus arrhythmia during the task | 6.81 ± 1.15 |
| post-task respiratory sinus arrhythmia | 7.17 ± 1.27 |
adolescents' diastolic and systolic blood pressure will be continuously monitored.
| mmHg | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| Baseline of conversation about dinner | 80.06 ± 9.07 |
| During the conversation about peer rejection task | 84.06 ± 96.98 |
adolescents' skin conductance level will be continuously monitored before and during the conversation about peer rejection.
| µs | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| baseline of conversation about dinner | 11.12 ± 9.89 |
| during the task of conversation about the peer rejection task | 10.96 ± 9.56 |
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
| milliseconds | Stress Inducing Task |
|---|---|
| Baseline of conversation about dinner | 7.19 ± 1.03 |
| During the task of conversation about the peer rejection task | 7.29 ± 1.14 |
Collected over 6 months. Non-serious events are listed at a 5% frequency threshold.
| Group | Deaths | Serious | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stress Inducing and Conversation Task | 0/178 (0%) | 0/178 (0%) | 0/178 (0%) |
Adolescents participated in the impossible puzzle task, the peer rejection task, and the peer rejection discussion task. Parents only participated in the peer rejection discussion task.
| Age, Continuous(years) | Stress Inducing and Discussion Task |
|---|---|
| Adolescents | 12.28 ± 1.59 |
| Parents | 39.79 ± 6.82 |
| Sex: Female, Male(Participants) | Stress Inducing and Discussion Task |
|---|---|
| Adolescents — Female | 48 |
| Adolescents — Male | 41 |
| Parents — Female | 82 |
| Parents — Male | 7 |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)(Participants) | Stress Inducing and Discussion Task |
|---|---|
| Adolescents — Hispanic or Latino | 41 |
| Adolescents — Not Hispanic or Latino | 48 |
| Adolescents — Unknown or Not Reported | 0 |
| Parents — Hispanic or Latino | 41 |
| Parents — Not Hispanic or Latino | 48 |
| Parents — Unknown or Not Reported | 0 |
| Region of Enrollment(participants) | Stress Inducing and Discussion Task |
|---|---|
| United States | 178 |
| Body Mass Index (BMI)(kg/m^2) | Stress Inducing and Discussion Task |
|---|---|
| Adolescents | 21.50 ± 5.87 |
Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.
Plan to share: Yes — The research resources from the project will include the study protocol and associated data, which will be provided upon request.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf, Csr, Analytic code
This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute→
Western Kentucky University