The Stress and Health Lab
Participant Information
Thank you for your interest in our research studies!
Below are descriptive overviews of our ongoing studies, as well as general information for those may be interested in participating in our research.
For each study description there is a link to click on that will take you to a screening application form for that study. If you are interested in a particular study, we ask that you fill out this application because each of our studies require that participants meet specific eligibility criteria. All information you may provide on ourapplications is treated as confidential.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Multidimensional Project (RAMP)
Please note: only individuals who have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis by a physician are eligible to participate in this study
This study is designed to investigate the associations between emotion, stress, pain, and inflammation among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. We are studying how such factors affect each other and hope this study will clarify different ways to improve health and well-being among those with chronic pain as well as improve understanding of rheumatoid arthritis in general.
Participation in this study will require completion of a 45-60 minute preliminary application (which can be completed on the internet from any computer, or on paper at your request), followed by 4 visits to the Penn State Main Campus Clinical Research Center (GCRC), a hospital research unit. Each of these visits to the GCRC will take less than 5 hours (from 8:00 am to 1:00pm for the first visit, and 8:00 to 12:40 pm for the later visits). In addition, you will be asked to have a brief (10-20 minute) clinician assessment of your arthritis severity. We will try to schedule this assessment with a clinician at the GCRC at the end of your first GCRC visit. The alternative would be to complete this assessment as part of a separate 20 minute visit to the GCRC. Thus, full participation in this study as a whole will take about 20 hours. Participants in the study have the opportunity to earn up to $240 for participation. For a detailed study description including additional eligibility criteria and a summary of all study procedures, click here (or send an email to stress@psu.edu, or call 867-1682).
To apply, please fill out a application online click here or, if you would prefer, you may request that a copy of this application be mailed to you. The application process is necessary to determine eligibility related to our health criteria. As will be described in more detail, all information you may provide on this or any of our applications is treated as confidential.