Social Experiences and Sleep Study

NCT03937973 | Completed DMC

• 2 other identifiers: 18-24889R01HL142051
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 139
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study will test the effect of race-based social rejection on polysomnography derived sleep outcomes and nocturnal cardiovascular psychophysiology in a sample of 80 African Americans and 80 Caucasian Americans. The investigators will test group differences on these outcomes as well as within subjects by testing impact of rejection compared to a non-rejection control night in the sleep laboratory.

Conditions

Sleep; Blood Pressure

Keywords

sleep; heart; stress

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in sleep onset latency, as determined by polysomnography

  Sleep onset latency is the time (in minutes) from "lights out" to sleep onset on the nights following the social rejection task and the control task laboratory to onset of sleep, as measured via polysomnography

  Assessed on the night of the social rejection task and compared to the control task night; it is anticipated that these nights will take place consecutively

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Change in minutes of wake after sleep onset (WASO), as determined by polysomnography

  Assessed on the night of the social rejection task and the night of the control task; it is anticipated that these nights will take place consecutively

• Change in total sleep time, as determined by polysomnography

  Assessed on the night of the social rejection task and the night of the control task; it is anticipated that these nights will take place consecutively

• Change in pre-ejection period (PEP) in response to rejection task

  Baseline to Post-rejection task, anticipated average of 30 minutes

• Change in heart rate variability (HRV) in response to rejection task

  Baseline to Post-rejection task, anticipated average of 30 minutes

• Change in nocturnal heart rate variability

  Assessed on the night of the social rejection task and the night of the control task; it is anticipated that these nights will take place consecutively

Study Arms (2)

Social rejection by in-group

EXPERIMENTAL

One hour prior to bed, participants will be exposed to a social rejection paradigm that includes a computerized ball-tossing game (Cyberball) and a speech task. Participants are made to believe that they are being rejected by someone of their own race/ethnicity (e.g., African American rejected by another African American).

Behavioral: Social rejection

Social rejection by out-group

EXPERIMENTAL

One hour prior to bed, participants will be exposed to a social rejection paradigm that includes a computerized ball-tossing game (Cyberball) and a speech task. Participants are made to believe that they are being rejected by someone not of their own race/ethnicity (e.g., Caucasian American rejected by another African American).

Behavioral: Social rejection

Interventions

Social rejection BEHAVIORAL

Social rejection paradigm

Social rejection by in-group; Social rejection by out-group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 64 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age: 18 to 64 years old
• Self-identified as African American/Black or Caucasian American/White
• English speaking, able to provide consent
• Self-reported bedtime between 10PM and 12AM for 5/7 nights for the past 3 months (stability to be confirmed by sleep diary and wrist actigraphy).
• Self-reported sleep duration between 6.5 and 8.5 hours for 5/7 nights for the last month (duration to be confirmed by actigraphy and sleep diary)

You may not qualify if:

• Body mass index of 40 or above
• Participants at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea, based on "high risk" score from the STOP-Bang.
• Medical or psychiatric condition, as assessed by self-report and clinical interview that affect sleep and/or cardiovascular functioning, including doctor diagnosed arrhythmia, hypertension, congestive heart failure, major depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Medication use that is likely to affect sleep and/or cardiovascular functioning, including antidepressants, anxiolytic or soporific medication, and beta-blockers.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, San Francisco: lead
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of California, San Francisco

San Francisco, California, 94118, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Aric A Prather, PhD

  University of California, San Francisco

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Participants will be blind to condition until the debriefing, which occurs the morning following the social-rejection task.
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: All participants will complete two nights in the sleep laboratory. One night will be a non-rejection control night. The other night will be a rejection task night. In this regard, African American and Caucasian American participants will be randomized to one of two conditions. All participants will be exposed to social rejection prior to bedtime; however, they will either be rejected by a person of their own race (in-group member) or a different race (out-group member)

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 15, 2019
• First Posted: May 6, 2019
• Study Start: April 9, 2019
• Primary Completion: April 1, 2025
• Study Completion: May 31, 2025
• Last Updated: November 6, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: All processed data should be available within 5 years of completion of the study
• Access Criteria: Consistent with NIH guidelines

Locations

US (1)