Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

University of Nevada, Reno

Code:

NCT05558527

Conditions

Psychological Trauma, Historical

Discrimination, Racial

Emotion Regulation

Social Interaction

Hypervigilance

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

social support

Study Details

Brief summary:

This study will examine the effects of social support on threat vigilance and arousal using eye tracking. We will also test the moderating effects of trauma and discrimination history.

Conditions

Psychological Trauma, Historical

Discrimination, Racial

Emotion Regulation

Social Interaction

Hypervigilance

Study ID

NCT05558527

Start date

Dec 18, 2025

Status verified date

Feb, 2026

Completion date

Dec, 2029

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • In a stable romantic relationship for 6 months or more
  • Normal vision or corrected-to-normal vision
  • Fluent in English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • If vision is corrected-to-normal, needs to use hard contact lenses, bifocal contact lenses, or glasses
  • Experienced a traumatic event within the past 4 weeks

Study Design

Enrollment

45 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Social support from a romantic partner

Participants will hold the hand of their romantic partner

active comparator: Social support from a stranger

Participants will hold the hand of a stranger

no intervention: No social support

Participants will hold a stress ball

Interventions

social support

social support is provided in the form of social touch (hand holding)

Primary outcome measure

  • Vigilance Related Eye Movements - Number of Eye Fixations [ Time Frame: Collected from minute 15 to minute 45 of study participation, approximately ]
  • Vigilance Related Eye Movements - Visual Scanning [ Time Frame: Collected from minute 15 to minute 45 of study participation, approximately ]
  • Threat-Related Physiological Arousal - Pupil Dilation [ Time Frame: Collected from minute 45 to minute 75 of study participation, approximately ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Kylie Baer, MS

(775) 682-8145kyliebaer@unr.edu

Cynthia L Lancaster, PhD

(775) 682-8145cynthialancaster@unr.edu

Locations

University of Nevada, Reno

Recruiting

Reno, Nevada, United States, 89557

More Information

Sponsor

University of Nevada, Reno

Last update posted

Apr 13, 2026

Last verified

Feb, 2026

Keywords

  • psychological trauma
  • ethnoracial discrimination
  • hypervigilance
  • anticipated threat
  • social emotion regulation
  • social touch

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Nevada, Reno on 2026-04-13.