Sub-Studies

If you and your child are participating in UPSIDE, we would like to learn more about you in these additional studies that you can participate in as part of UPSIDE.

EEG Visit

Now that your child is two years of age, it is possible to understand better how she/he understands her/his social world by using electroencephalography (EEG), which tracks the brains electrical current while she/he is performing tasks. The purpose of the sub-study is to record your child’s responses to sounds and other stimuli while observing how her/his brain is responding to this information. We will do this while she/he is awake and participating when your child is about 2, 3, and 4 years old.

During each visit, which will last approximately 1.5 hours, we will first check your child’s hearing. We will then place a cap on your child’s head that records the electrical activity of your child’s brain. Your child will see images on a screen or hear sounds; your child will also be asked to conduct simple tasks. The cap on your child’s head records her/her brain responses to these activities. During this time, you and your child will be together in a quiet and somewhat darkened room (so that there are no distractions for your child). The information obtained in this study will be linked to the data that is being collected in the UPSIDE study.

You will be paid $100 in gift cards for each visit when your child is 2, 3, and 4 years of age. This amount will be in addition to the amount that you will receive for participating in the main UPSIDE study.

UPSIDE Moms

The purpose of this study is to learn more about how having been pregnant and experiencing the many changes during and after pregnancy may affect a woman’s health. We are particularly interested in the weight gained during pregnancy and the weight changes after pregnancy, as well as the immune and metabolic changes that normally occur with pregnancy and how they change after pregnancy. We are trying to understand how these pregnancy-related changes affect a woman’s risk for diseases such as heart disease and diabetes later in life.

If you decide to participate in this study, you will be asked to:

• Provide a blood sample of approximately 40 ml (about 8 teaspoons).
• Provide a urine sample of 10 ml (about 2 teaspoons).
• Complete study questionnaires.
• Let us measure your blood pressure.
• Be interviewed by the study team (in person or by phone) about what you have eaten in the last 24 hours. These interviews last about 30 minutes.
• Stand on a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) machine. It measures your weight and estimates things like fat-free body mass (muscle) and fat mass in your body.
• Wear an accelerometer on your waist for 5 to 7 days following the visit. This will measure your physical activity every day.
• Provide saliva (spit) samples using the provided collection kits. These samples are the same as the ones you collected at home when you were pregnant.

At the 2-year and 3-year visits you will be asked to complete one more activity in addition to the one’s listed above:

• After the blood collection, we ask that you drink Glucola, which is a beverage that contains a sugar polymer. One hour after drinking this you will have a 2nd blood draw of 4 ml. This is similar to the testing you did during pregnancy and we use this test to measure how your body uses sugar.

At the 6-month, 12-month, 24-month, and 36 month visits you will receive $20 at your in person visit (for completing the blood and urine sample collections and the BIA and BP measurements). You will receive an additional $15 if you collect saliva samples and return them to the research team and complete the dietary recalls ($5 for dietary recalls and $10 for saliva samples). You will receive an additional $15 for returning the accelerometer. Thus, for each of these 4 visits you can earn up to $50, giving a total of $200. 

Lifestyle Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many changes worldwide, statewide, and in your own daily life. Some of these changes may include: spending more time indoors, changes to your routine, and less time spent with family and friends. This can result in decreased physical activity, increased stress/anxiety, and changes in interpersonal relationships.

The primary objective of this study is to collect information about the changes you may have experienced during this time period. If you decide to take part in this sub-study, you will be asked to respond to series of questionnaires online, using a secure RedCap link, or by telephone. This is expected to take 30-45 minutes to complete.

You will be paid $40 in gift cards for completing the questionnaires for this study. 

Eating Behaviors

At the three-year visit, we invite you and your child to participate in a sub-study to better understand what food your child eats on a daily basis. We will ask you to complete two interviews with one of our study team members. They will ask you about what food your child has consumed during the past 24 hours. Each recall takes about 15-20 minutes to complete.

You will receive a $15 gift card for each dietary recall. For two recalls, you will receive $30 in total.