The RAISE study. V1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The RAISE study. Studying resilience after individual stress exposure.
IRAS ID
241765
Contact name
Anne-Laura van Harmelen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 25 days
Research summary
The aim of this study is to address resilient functioning by studying how key biological factors (ie, HPA axis, immune system) interrelate and interact with the brain and the social environment in order to facilitate resilient functioning after childhood adversity.
We aim to recruit up to 200 participants. Participants will be recruited from the general population and from previous studies carried out in the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Cambridge. We will use flyers, posters, websites, and/or social networking sites to broadcast general information about the study and to invite potential participants to contact the RAISE study research team directly to express an interest and leave their contact details.
All included participants will be asked to complete 3 phases: phase I: an online assessment to assess psychological functioning and early life experiences; phase II: an in-unit assessment to assess neuro-immune and cognitive responses to stress, and phase III: a follow-up online assessment to assess psychological functioning after stress exposure.
Resilient functioning will be quantified as the degree to which an individual functions better or worse than expected given their self-reported childhood family experiences. To examine the neuro-immune responses to stress and their relationship with brain structure and function and social environment we will use a well-validated functional magnetic resonance imaging task (i.e., Montreal imaging stress task). Since stress increases circulating inflammatory protein levels in the blood and high levels of inflammation have been associated with the development of mental health disorders, we will examine whether resilience is related to lower levels of inflammation in response to psychosocial stress and whether this is explained by improved brain responses to such stress.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/EE/0388
Date of REC Opinion
4 Feb 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion