Participate

You and your child could be asked to participate in a range of activities for a research study. Commonly, you will each answer questionnaires about parenting, relationships, emotional and physical health, and early experiences (e.g., if you or your child have had trauma exposure). Often we will ask your child to play computer games that will give us insight into their behaviors, as well as donate samples (like saliva, stool, and hair), to assess hormones, microbes, and other biological products stored there. Frequently we ask kids to lie in an MRI scanner while they are playing games, so that we can photograph their brains using magnets.  

All parts of a research study are optional, and you can often still participate even if you only want to do some components of the study.

We are respectful of the busy lives of families. We aim to have you in and out of most research studies within 2 hours. We may ask you to do some simple things at home before or after you come in (like answer questionnaires or be interviewed by a researcher). We are flexible with time and can do the study after school, during holidays, or on the weekends as your schedule best fits.

Parents and children are each given a stipend for participating in research, free parking, and additional giveaways. Especially for longitudinal studies (where we want you to come back in the future) we have raffles with prizes (like a Nintendo Switch) to keep you interested in the study. Sometimes we can provide fun take home information, like pictures of your brain, as well as an insight into the types of bugs living in your gut or mouth.

Yes, for in person studies at UCLA you will be given a parking voucher to use at a parking station close to the lab.

Certainly! Multiple children from one family can participate at once, if eligible. If you are bringing children who are not eligible, they can play games and spend time with research staff until the study is complete.

MRI uses magnets to take photographs of the inside of our bodies (in our case, the brain). Individuals taking part in an MRI study are awake and unmedicated in the scanner. There is no sedation involved. Because MRI uses magnets, the biggest safety concern with MRI is making sure to not take metal into the scanner room. We conduct a thorough metal screener with you over the phone, and in person, as well as checking each participant with a metal detector before they enter the scanner to ensure that you are safe.