The Teen Cycle Study aims to understand how stress impacts adolescent girls’ lives and well-being.

The UNC Department of Psychiatry is seeking participants for a study that seeks to understand the influence of the menstrual cycle and associated hormones on female teens’ stress responses and mood symptoms.
To participate in the study, participants need to be biologically female, 12-17 years of age, have regular menstrual cycles and have experienced significant life stress or have experienced depression, hopelessness, sadness or worry. To participate in the study, UNC Psychiatry asks that a parent or parents and their teen to come for an initial visit involving interviews and questionnaires. Following the interview visit, the teen would then come in for two lab visits, during which they will watch a video, engage in a mental task, and provide saliva samples and dried blood spots (via finger prick) before and after the mental task. In addition to the in-person visits, we will ask the participant to complete daily and weekly surveys via a smartphone and to provide urine samples via home urine test strips.
Participants may earn up to $450 for participation in this study.
Contact the study team via email at teencyclestudy@unc.edu or by phone at 984-999-0783. More information is available online at https://uncteencycle.wordpress.com.