Hair biomarkers to track chronic stress and resilience in young children
Hair Biomarkers Study
This project will test whether measuring cortisol and related markers in hair can show chronic stress and resilience in healthy children aged 6 to 24 months and how family factors like adversity, parenting, and poverty relate to those markers.
Quick facts
| Study type | Observational |
|---|---|
| Enrollment | 600 (estimated) |
| Ages | 6 Months to 24 Months |
| Sex | All |
| Sponsor | Stanford University Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Palo Alto, California) |
| Trial ID | NCT07011082 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
What this trial studies
Using community-based participatory methods, investigators will enroll 600 healthy children aged 6–24 months who live in Santa Clara, San Mateo, or Alameda counties and follow each child for two years with five visits spaced six months apart. At each visit the team will collect serial hair samples to measure chronic cortisol and other biomarkers, gather bilingual parent-completed surveys on adversity, parenting, and social factors, and obtain annual anthropometric measures and developmental screens. Analyses will examine how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), positive childhood experiences (PCEs), parenting, and poverty interact with hair biomarkers and early social-emotional and developmental outcomes. The goal is to develop objective measures of altered stress regulation in early childhood that link social exposures to biological signals.
Who should consider this trial
Good fit: Ideal candidates are healthy children aged 6 to 24 months who live in Santa Clara, San Mateo, or Alameda County, whose caregivers can provide a home address and commit to five visits over two years.
Not a fit: Children with scalp conditions, recent systemic steroid exposure, chronic medical or developmental disorders, or those living outside the three specified counties are unlikely to benefit from participation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could provide an objective, noninvasive biomarker to identify infants at higher chronic stress risk so supports and interventions can be offered earlier.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research has shown hair cortisol can reflect chronic stress in children and adults, but longitudinal, community-based evidence specifically in infants and toddlers is limited.
Eligibility criteria
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Normal, healthy children aged 6 months to 24 months and their mothers (or father, if mother is not able to participate). 2. Living in Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, or Alameda County in Northern California. 3. Willing to give their home address (in order to receive the study kits at home). 4. Committed to regular follow-up at 6-month intervals for the full study duration of 2 years. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Children with tinea capitis, alopecia areata, scalp eczema, dermatitis, or other scalp conditions. 2. Children exposed to systemic steroid therapy for any diagnosis in the 3 months prior to study entry. 3. Children receiving any other prescription drugs that alter HPA axis function or cortisol release, if the period of exposure is 2 weeks or longer within the 3 months prior to study entry. 4. Children with chronic medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, asthma, eczema, or other chronic conditions. 5. Children with known developmental delay, Trisomy-21 and other chromosomal anomalies, seizure disorders, chronic pain, cerebral palsy, or other disabilities. 6. Children whose hair has received chemical exposures (e.g., dying, bleaching, chemical straightening, perming) in the 90 days prior to study entry or for 90 days before each follow-up appointment during the 2-year study period.
Where this trial is running
Palo Alto, California
- Stanford University — Palo Alto, California, United States (Recruiting)
Study contacts
- Study coordinator: Kanwaljeet J.S. Anand, MBBS, DPhil
- Email: anandam@stanford.edu
- Phone: (650) 498-6313
How to participate
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Visit the official trial page on ClinicalTrials.gov for the most current contact information and recruitment status.
- Contact the listed study coordinator or principal investigator to request pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.