We are recruiting people who are not adopted to help us understand how early life experience impacts the brain and behaviour
Description
Ethics ref: 17962
Why are we conducting this research?
We would like to learn more about how early life experience influences the brain, behaviour, and the immune system later in life. We would like to understand why certain early life experiences (e.g., adoption, stress and parental separation) can cause difficulties for some people when they are adults. The long-term goal of this research is to develop tools that could identify young people who are vulnerable to developing future problems, this will ensure people get the help that they need at the right time for them.
What would be involved if you took part?
This study will use psychological assessment, online games, brain imaging and blood sampling to help improve our understanding of how and why early life experience can influence mental health, cognition, brain development and the immune system later in life.
The study will take between 7 – 9 hours of your time, broken down into the following shorter sections:
- Screening call (Zoom/telephone) to confirm eligibility (20 minutes)
- Online demographic, clinical, and personality questionnaires (1.5 hours)
- Online games (1.5 hours): these are similar to online “brain training” games and will be used to assess memory, impulsivity, attention, face recognition and social interaction.
- Brain scan & blood test (1.5 hours): You will visit the University of Manchester and complete cognitive tasks whilst undergoing magnetic resonance imaging brain scan (1 hour) and provide a blood sample (30 minutes).
- Interviews & trauma questionnaires (1.5 – 3 hours): You will complete an interview about your mental health history (0.5 – 2 hours) and short questionnaires about your experience of childhood trauma (15 minutes). You can choose to do this remotely or when you visit the University of Manchester.
- Additionally, some participants will be asked to complete an autism assessment (1 hour).
Contact details
If you are interested in participating, please contact the researcher at this email address:
Who is eligible to take part?
We are seeking young adults aged 18 – 25 years old who are not adopted to take part in this study.
Inclusion criteria:
- Reside in Greater Manchester
- You are not enrolled on a university degree course and do not hold a university degree qualification
- Lived with one or both birth parents throughout childhood.
- Able to travel to the University of Manchester
- Able to understand the study information and participate in the assessment procedures described below (independently or with reading support from a researcher, friend or family member)
- Able to read text on a computer screen (using glasses or contact lenses if required)
- To sign up for this study one or more of the following statements should apply to you:
- I am not currently in education employment or training, or I am unemployed.
- I receive benefits from the Government e.g., housing benefits, universal credit, personal independent payment (PIP), disability benefit, job seekers allowance.
- I am currently struggling due mental health problems or neurodiversity (e.g., depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism, eating disorder)
Exclusion criteria:
- You were looked after by the local authority (e.g., foster, kinship care or residential children’s home) or adopted during childhood.
- Any experience of childhood trauma (including neglect, physical/verbal abuse, sexual abuse or exposure to domestic violence).
- Your family required input from social services due to child protection concerns.
- You are experiencing symptoms of and have been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), borderline personality disorder (BPD), Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD).
We encourage participation from a broad and diverse range of people for this study. You do not need to be experiencing any difficulties to take part, however we welcome individuals with learning difficulties, physical disabilities, mental health difficulties and neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism and ADHD). We will not exclude people currently taking medications for psychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders. If you consider yourself to be experiencing a current severe mental health difficulty, (e.g., psychosis) please discuss this with us as we may need to discuss when and how you could take part.
Payment:
- You will be compensated for your time and travel expenses.
- If you require a support companion (friend, family member, social worker) to join you at the testing day (e.g., for safety, care or interpretation), please do let us know in advance, we can also reimburse their travel expenses.
What is the study location?
The face-to-face testing day will take place in two wheelchair accessible venues.
[1] Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, University of Manchester, Stopford Building, Oxford Road. www.accessable.co.uk/the-university-of-manchester/access-guides/stopford-building. Details of university parking (free of charge for Blue Badge Holders) can be found here: www.estates.manchester.ac.uk/services/operationalservices/carparking/
[2] NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility (CRF), Grafton Street.