Social BehaviorNCT06550206
Toddlers' Responses to Strangers
An observational study of Social Behavior, run by University of California Santa Cruz at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The study will assess if toddlers show differences in stranger wariness according to race, temperament, social network diversity, and neighborhood diversity. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 13 to 24 months
- Conditions the study is for
- Social Behavior
- What is being tested?
- Children's stranger wariness response to strangers
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- How many people
- 100 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 30 Jul 2024to Oct 2025
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 13 to 24 months
- All sexes
- Child
Study population: Community sample from the larger Santa Cruz area
Who may be able to join
- typically developing
- age 13-24 months
Who cannot join
- any known developmental delays
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Social Science 2 Building
Santa Cruz, California, 95064
Ian Ferruci, BA, 831-264-8155, did.lab@ucsc.edu
Hyesung Hwang, PhD
About this study
Official title: The Malleability of Social Group Understanding in Infancy and Early Childhood
The study will assess if toddlers show differences in stranger wariness according to race, temperament, social network diversity, and neighborhood diversity.
Read the detailed description
This study is investigating 13- to 24-month-old toddlers' reactions to meeting new people from familiar and unfamiliar racial backgrounds! Participation involves a 1-hour one-time visit to the researcher's lab, located on the UC Santa Cruz campus.
The study itself will take about 20 minutes, but will ask for a 1-hour visit to make sure child participants feel comfortable in the new space. The study will video record as child participants interact with two adults, who will play with the child and offer toys. Parent participants will also be asked to complete two surveys, one demographic survey and one social network survey, so that investigators can better understand how the people children see in their daily lives relate to how participants react to strangers from different racial backgrounds.
- Conditions
- Social Behavior
- Being tested
- Children's stranger wariness response to strangers
- Medical subject headings
- Social Behavior
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Children's stranger wariness response to strangersBehavioural
Also called Social bias
Children will see two strangers, one from a familiar racial background and one from an unfamiliar racial background. Familiar race stranger will be from the same racial background as the child's caregiver and unfamiliar race stranger will not.
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Social Wariness
children's social wariness as assessed by the time that the child first vocalized, touched the stranger, and the duration of time that the child stayed near their parent in seconds standardized and averaged to create a composite score.
Measured: Through study completion, an average of 10 years
Social Preference
Social preference will be coded by observing toddler behavior and assigning the following codes: 1 = did not take the toy from either stranger, 2 = took toy from familiar race stranger, 3 = took toy from unfamiliar race stranger, 4 = took toy or played with both strangers simultaneously.
Measured: Through study completion, an average of 10 years
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted12 Aug 2024
- Study start30 Jul 2024
- Primary completionOct 2025 (estimated)
- Study completionOct 2025 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Social BehaviorStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Case only
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of California Santa Cruz
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- New York University, University of Maryland, College Park
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Hyesung Hwang, PhD, Principal investigator, University of California Santa Cruz
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06550206
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- HS-FY2023-23
- Status last verified
- Mar 2025
- First submitted
- 6 Aug 2024
- Last updated
- 11 Mar 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: All anonymized IPD data that underlie a publication will be shared after the study is published on open science framework.
Publications
Hwang HG, Filippi CA, Morales S, Fox NA, Woodward A. Children's social wariness toward a different-race stranger relates to individual differences in temperament. Dev Sci. 2023 Nov;26(6):e13390. doi: 10.1111/desc.13390. Epub 2023 Mar 24.
PubMed 36960937
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 11 Mar 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Malleability of Social Group Understanding in Infancy and Early Childhood
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06550206
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- HS-FY2023-23
- Conditions
- Social Behavior
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of California Santa CruzUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- New York University, University of Maryland, College Park
- Study start
- 30 Jul 2024 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Oct 2025 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Oct 2025 (estimated)
- First posted
- 12 Aug 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The study will assess if toddlers show differences in stranger wariness according to race, temperament, social network diversity, and neighborhood diversity.
Detailed description
This study is investigating 13- to 24-month-old toddlers' reactions to meeting new people from familiar and unfamiliar racial backgrounds! Participation involves a 1-hour one-time visit to the researcher's lab, located on the UC Santa Cruz campus.
The study itself will take about 20 minutes, but will ask for a 1-hour visit to make sure child participants feel comfortable in the new space. The study will video record as child participants interact with two adults, who will play with the child and offer toys. Parent participants will also be asked to complete two surveys, one demographic survey and one social network survey, so that investigators can better understand how the people children see in their daily lives relate to how participants react to strangers from different racial backgrounds.
Study design
- Observational model
- Case only
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 13 to 24 months
- Sex
- All
- Age groups
- Child
- Study population
- Community sample from the larger Santa Cruz area
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- typically developing
- age 13-24 months
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- any known developmental delays
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Children's stranger wariness response to strangersAlso: Social biasChildren will see two strangers, one from a familiar racial background and one from an unfamiliar racial background. Familiar race stranger will be from the same racial background as the child's caregiver and unfamiliar race stranger will not. | Behavioural | – |
Primary outcome
Social Wariness
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 10 years
children's social wariness as assessed by the time that the child first vocalized, touched the stranger, and the duration of time that the child stayed near their parent in seconds standardized and averaged to create a composite score.
Social Preference
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 10 years
Social preference will be coded by observing toddler behavior and assigning the following codes: 1 = did not take the toy from either stranger, 2 = took toy from familiar race stranger, 3 = took toy from unfamiliar race stranger, 4 = took toy or played with both strangers simultaneously.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 11 Mar 2025.
- Background: PubMed 36960937Hwang HG, Filippi CA, Morales S, Fox NA, Woodward A. Children's social wariness toward a different-race stranger relates to individual differences in temperament. Dev Sci. 2023 Nov;26(6):e13390. doi: 10.1111/desc.13390. Epub 2023 Mar 24.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. All anonymized IPD data that underlie a publication will be shared after the study is published on open science framework.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Hyesung Hwang, PhD principal investigator
University of California Santa Cruz
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Social Behavior, run by University of California Santa Cruz at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 11 Mar 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Seaera Juarez, BS ((760) 895-3878, serjuare@ucsc.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Social Wariness (time frame: Through study completion, an average of 10 years). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06550206, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 11 Mar 2025; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 2 Nov 2026.