Study Purpose: It is known that different childhood experiences are associated with later adolescent and adult outcomes. However, not much is known about how these experiences in childhood impact the brain and subsequent behavior. The goal of this study is to better understand how different experiences and environments affect the brain across development and how this impacts wellbeing.
Who Can Participate: Families who have previously participated in “A Child Twin Study of Behavior, Environments, and Genes” at Michigan State University (MSU) are eligible to participate in this study. If you gave the MSU researchers permission to recontact you, they will be calling you to see whether or not you’re interested in participating in this follow up study with us here at the University of Michigan.
If I choose to participate, what will happen during the study visit day? For those families that choose to participate in the Michigan Twin Study, both twins and a legal guardian (usually mom) will have a one day visit with us at the University of Michigan. During this time, we will visit your home, drive you to our lab in Ann Arbor, help you fill out questionnaires, run interactions tasks with your family, give you some computer games to play, take pictures of your brain using an MRI scanner, and have you give some biological samples including hair, saliva, and blood from a finger prick. At the end of the day we will drive you back to your home and compensate you for your time. More details and information will be provided to you at the time of your initial phone call and you are always welcome to contact our lab with any questions or concerns. As with any study at the University of Michigan, your participation is completely voluntary and all of your information will be kept confidential.
We look forward to your visit and thank you for sharing your family’s experience with us!
