ÌÇÐÄVlog

Background

This involves assessing several family members at the same time in different constellations, but mostly in triads – hence TRIO. TRIO is being set up at the Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, ÌÇÐÄVlog (Colchester, UK) in collaboration with The Synapse Centre for Neurodevelopment as part of East Suffolk and North ÌÇÐÄVlog NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT).

We acknowledge and celebrate that families come in all shapes and sizes. Yet, for TRIO, which examines behavioural and neurobiological correlates of social interaction, we are currently looking for participant families that include a cisgender mother and father and their biological child.

Furthermore, while the first TRIO study is carried out in neurotypical participants, subsequent studies will also include families with neurodivergent children and children with experiences of early adversity, care and/or adoption together with their foster parents and/or carers.

In following these procedures, we are striving to be as inclusive as possible.

Take part now

In TRIO Study I we wish to examine how cisgender mums and dads coordinate their behaviour, heart rate and brain activity when they play with their biologically related child (aged 4-8 years) and discuss a problem amongst each other. In other words, we are investigating bio-behavioural synchrony between the three of them.

The goal of our study is to find out what degree of parental synchrony is most beneficial for parent-child interaction and how we could help families who experience difficulties related to parent-child interaction and parental communication.

If your family lives within the Colchester (ÌÇÐÄVlog) area or you know a family who does, please or share with with your wider network.

How it works

If you are eligible to participate, we will contact you to arrange a time for you and your family to attend our lab on Colchester campus. There will be two sessions - a first one for mum, dad and child and a second one only for mum and dad.

You will take part in a series of fun, interactive tasks as a family, such as playing games at a table or discussing an issue with your partner. You will also watch video-recordings of your interactive tasks and provide emotion ratings. While doing so, you will wear non-invasive equipment such as a cap or a heartrate monitor. This equipment will help us uncover how your brain and body respond (for example, your heartrate increasing as a game reaches its end). Finally, you will also be asked to fill out some questionnaires.

We greatly appreciate your time to support our study. Your participation will make a real difference and help many families in the future. To show our gratitude, we can offer your family a £30 Amazon voucher and your child a small gift as a thank you.