https://pittplusme.org/study/2728
Pain Emotion Adolescent Relationship (PEAR) Study - Parent of teen 14-17 years old
STUDY BASICS
Are you the parent of a 14-17 year old? Do they have mild to high pain in the jaw, neck, back, shoulders, or limbs? Your child may be able to participate in a research study to better understand how pain, mood, and mental health are related in youth. Compensation is provided.
STUDY PURPOSE
The main purpose of the PEAR study is to help researchers better understand why some teens who have physical pain in their body go on to develop depressive symptoms or suicidal thoughts, while other teens do not. Given that research suggests that some brain regions are involved in both physical pain and mood, one of the aims of this study is to understand how daily life experiences, such as social interations, and the brain may be related to daily changes in both physical pain and mood. We would like to also better understand how daily social experiences, the brain, pain and mood, may work together to influence the development of depressive symptoms or suicidal thoughts for some teens. Ultimately, we hope this information will help us learn how to improve emotional health in teens.
COULD THIS STUDY BE RIGHT FOR YOU?
- Parent of a teen between 14-17 years old
- Your child has mild to high pain in the jaw, neck, back, shoulders, or limbs
WHAT PARTICIPANTS CAN EXPECT
This study will examine brain activity, pain, and mood in adolescents with musculoskeletal pain in limbs, back, neck, or shoulders. We will also ask questions about depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation and behavior. We will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity, and will use questionnaires and repeated home electronic assessments to measure pain, mood, and behavior. All adolescent participants will be asked to also complete a 7-day home assessment via their phone after the 2nd visit, and again approximately once a month for 5 additional months.
IRB: STUDY22120028B
- sIRB Moving beyond the Pain-Suicidality Link: An Investigation of Fluctuations in Social Threat and Neural Response to Social Threat in Momentary Pain and Proximal Risk for Suicidal Ideation in Adolescence
MEET THE RESEARCHERS
Caroline Oppenheimer
Caroline Oppenheimer, PhD, is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. After earning a PhD in Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Denver in 2014, Dr. Oppenheimer moved to Pittsburgh to complete a clinical psychology internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC. Dr. Oppenheimer has research and clinical experience working with children and adolescents, and her current research focuses on predicting risk for mood problems in young people.
Mary Phillips
Mary L. Phillips, MD, is Professor in Psychiatry and Translational Science and Director of the Mood and Brain Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh. A graduate of the University of Cambridge, Dr. Phillips’ research focuses on the identification of neural correlates that underlie symptoms of specific abnormalities in emotion processing in people with mood disorders.