Study Procedures

  The study procedures for the middle childhood (age 9) follow-up assessment include a lab visit to Stony Brook University, cortisol collection at home, and co-parent participation. To compensate for your time, your family will be paid for participating (see table below for time commitments and monetary reimbursement amounts).

Lab Visit
The lab visit, which will last approximately 3-½ hours, will be scheduled at your convenience, and can occur on weekends, weekdays, evenings, school vacations, and some holidays. Only one parent needs to be present during the lab visit. The lab visit will include a psychophysiology assessment, interviews, questionnaires, and collection of saliva samples. As part of the psychophysiology assessment, we will record your child's brain activity while engaged in simple tasks. Your child will sit in a chair while his/her brain activity is recorded with an electroencephalogram (EEG). This is a non-invasive, safe procedure. Your child will watch short film clips, play computerized games, and complete puzzles. In addition, your child will participate in an interview about his/her temperament, behavior and adjustment. Your child will also complete a questionnaire about his/her feelings, thoughts, activities, and relationships with others. While your child is involved in these activities, you will meet with one of our staff for interviews about your child's temperament, behavior and adjustment, as well as about your own mood, personality and health. You will also complete a questionnaire about your child's temperament, behavior, and interactions with others. In addition, both you and your child will be asked to provide a saliva sample. Throughout the lab visit, your child will receive several small prizes to help keep him/her engaged.

Cortisol Collection At Home
After the lab visit, you will be asked to collect saliva samples from your child in order to assess cortisol, a stress-sensitive hormone. The saliva samples will be collected at home, three times a day (upon waking, 30 minutes later, and shortly before bedtime) for three days. You will also complete a diary of basic information during the three collection days. The cortisol samples should be stored in your freezer, and we will schedule a time that is convenient for your family to pick up the samples from your home.

Co-Parent Participation
If your child's other biological parent participates, he/she will take part in a phone interview about his/her mood, personality and health. He/She will also complete an online questionnaire about your child's temperament, behavior and interactions with others. In addition, he/she will be asked to provide a saliva sample. We will schedule a time that is convenient for your family to pick up the saliva sample from your home (or, if necessary, we will provide a stamped envelope for him/her to return the saliva sample to us by mail).

Participation Reimbursement