**Design** The study is observational and follows a cross-sectional design (cohort study in a population of psychology students). BAT is assessed in our participants with infrared thermography following [Costello et al.'s][1] procedure to study Brown Adipose Tissue activation. Participants also complete a battery of self-report questionnaires during the LIP/PC2S Test Week. We explore the relation between BAT activation and the results of two questionnaires: the ECR (attachment) and the STRAQ-1 (desire to socially thermoregulate). Participants are not aware of the objective of the study. *Recruitment of the participants* We recruit participants from the students of the Université Grenoble Alpes, depending on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. *Inclusion Criteria* - Having filled in the battery of questionnaires during the LIP/PC2S Test Week. - Being at least 18 years of age. *Exclusion Criteria* - Being 45 years or older. ---------- **Procedure** *Sample plan* Registration is prior to any analyses of the data: the data exist but have not yet been quantified, observed, or reported by anyone - including individuals that are not associated with the proposed study. *Data collection procedure* Participants come to the laboratory for a 1-hour visit. They are selected following the inclusion criteria mentioned above. They are asked to take a book or magazine with them to read during the time in between measurements. Upon arrival, participants are first informed of what they will do. After this instruction, they are asked to fill a consent form. They are once again asked for their weight, height, age, (romantic) relationship status, smoking status (and, if yes, how many cigarettes per day), whether they use medication (and, if so, which kinds of medication) and, for female participants, their last menstrual onset. We will control for any potential medical treatment impacting BAT (as defined by a pre-specified list of medications) or potential regular exposure to cold water and potential cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological disorders when running the analyses. During the study, participants are sitting in a room with a temperature of approximately 18°C (we measure the temperature of the room via a BlueMaestro TempoDisc). The temperature of the experimental room, the minimal and maximal temperature of the day are measured as we need to control for them [(Cohade et al, 2003)][3]. Participants are invited to sit in a chair in an upright position, head in a neutral position, straight up, looking straight ahead. The experimenter instructs them to keep sitting straight up (and to remind them when they are not sitting straight anymore). They are asked to take off their clothes on the upper part of the body. If they wear anything on the measured areas (like jewellery or a bra), they are asked to remove it. Brilliant tap/solar cream is put on the region of interest if needed to ensure that participants are more comparable (in case of skin unevenness). Data collection happens in the following order: - 30 min seated on the chair without immersion as a baseline - 15 min of cold-induced BAT activation. Their right hand up to radial-notch is immersed in a cold-water bath. Participants are asked to keep moving fingers - 15 min with the right hand out of the bath for a rewarming period The water bath is pre-filled with 15°C water [(Ramage et al, 2016)][10]. The IRT camera (FLIR TG297) is fixed at 1m from the chair on a level tripod perpendicular to the participant. The camera is assembled, stabilized, and powered for at least 10 min before the participant’s arrival to make sure it reaches a stable internal temperature [(Grgic & Pusnik, 2011)][11]. Constant skin emissivity for IRT camera is set at ε=0.98 [(Stetekee, 1973)][12]. The software we use is a tool by FLIR. The skin temperatures we will use will be an average of the Regions of Interest (RoI) as defined further. Control temperature at time t, TC(t) consists in the average temperature on areas of 1cm2 in the following RoI: the sternum region, defined as in the middle of the chest and at the same height as the lower edges of the shoulders (at the manubrium level) and the right and left deltoids regions. These regions were chosen for not showing thermal response to cooling of the hand [(Symonds et al., 2012)][13]. The temperature of the supraclavicular area at time t, TSCA(t) consists of an average temperature in the supraclavicular RoI defined as the triangle of the neck between sternocleidomastoid, trapezius and clavicle. This area is shown to include supraclavicular fossae and was the one defined and used in previous studies using IRT to measure BAT activity [(Brasil et al, 2020)][14]. For each measure, a triplicate is made from three captures and the final temperature TBAT(t) consists of the mean of the three calculated TSCA(t) minus the mean of the TC(t). Triplicated captures: - Measure 1: t=0 minutes - Measure 2: t=20 minutes (acclimation) - Measure 3: t=30 minutes (acclimation) - Measure 4: t=35 minutes (cooling) - Measure 5: t=45 minutes (cooling) - Measure 6: t=50 minutes (post-cooling) - Measure 7: t=60 minutes (post-cooling) Measures 1, 2, and 3 are compared to evaluate the effectiveness of the acclimation process. Measure 3 is used to calculate TBAT(acclimation). Measures 4 and 5 are compared to evaluate the effectiveness of the cooling process. Measure 5 is used to evaluate TBAT(cooling). Measures 6 and 7 are compared to evaluate the effectiveness of the acclimation process. During the study, a document will be filled with any information about the capture: time, room temperature and any comment such as a material problem or participant’s movements. After the study, participants are debriefed about the objectives of the study and are received a contact email address if they want more information about the study. ---------- **Measures** *Measure of the independent variables: the questionnaires* (Test week 2021-2022 is not complete yet, the information below are assumptions based on the test week of 2020-2021) The questionnaires are meant to assess the predictors and some of the control variables. Participants answer online all the questionnaires described below. They are part of a “testweek” that the university runs at the beginning of the year. The order of questionnaires is randomized, as well as question order within each questionnaire. The Qualtrics file is available here (NOT ACCESSIBLE YET) and the "Word" export of the Qualtrics file is available here (NOT ACCESSIBLE YET). Each questionnaire has been used by the CORE Lab before. - The sensitivity to temperature and desire to socially thermoregulate scale (Social Thermoregulation and Risk Avoidance Questionnaire or STRAQ-1) was developed by the CORE Lab in 12 countries [(Vergara et al, 2019)][4]. It consists of 23 (out of 57) items in 4 subscales: Social Thermoregulation, High-Temperature Sensitivity, Solitary Thermoregulation, and Risk Avoidance which assess participants’ sensitivity to temperature and desire to socially thermoregulate. The set of questions is based on 5-point Likert scales (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). A final score is computed by summing all the scores of each item in each subscale. The 4 final scores indicate the personal sensitivity to temperature and the desire to regulate it socially. This questionnaire has been validated, but the CORE lab is developing a second iteration. - The self-reported attachment scale is based on a previous study that elaborated a questionnaire designed to assess individual differences in attachment within and across a variety of relational contexts: the Experience in Close Relationship questionnaire [(Fraley et al, 2011)][5]. The ECR-RS (denominated "ECR" in the project), which is a revision of the original ECR, aims at evaluating attachment-related anxiety, insecurity and avoidance. It consists of 36 items based on 7-point Likert scales (1 = completely disagree, 7 = completely agree). A final score is computed by summing all the scores of each item. It indicates how they generally experience relationships with others. - The Big Five personality measure or IPIP-NEO (International Personality Item Pool) aims at evaluating five factors of personality that explain interindividual differences: openness, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. It consists of 120 questions based on 5-point Likert scales (1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree). A final score is computed in each of the five categories by averaging the scores of each set of questions corresponding to the category. The five scores indicate to what degree the participant is open-minded, worried, extrovert, kind and conscientious. - The self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press). It is a 10-item scale that measures global self-worth by measuring both positive and negative feelings about the self. The scale is believed to be uni-dimensional. All items are answered using a 4-point Likert scale format ranging from strongly agree (1) to strongly disagree (4). Higher scores indicate higher self-esteem. - The well-being scale [(Diener et al, 1985)][6] is constituted by five statements that one may agree or disagree with using a 7-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 7 = Strongly agree). The final score is computed by summing the score of each item. A high score means that the participant is overall satisfied in life. - (THE FULL LIST OF QUESTIONNAIRES IS NOT AVAILABLE YET) - In the demographic background questionnaire, participants indicate their sex, age, height, weight and whether they are in a romantic relationship. If they identify as a female, they state whether they use hormonal contraceptives, whether they menstruate regularly, how long is their typical menstrual cycle, how confident they are in their estimate of the average cycle length and how many days it has been since their last period started and until their next period begins. They state whether they smoke and if so, how many cigarettes a day. *Assessment of the dependent variable: BAT activation* BAT activation is assessed via infrared thermography (IRT). Compared to the other method of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomographic and computed tomographic (PET-CT) scans, IRT is more convenient, less expensive and non-invasive according to a review made in 2020 [(Brasil S et al.)][7]. Since resting temperature is affected by factors other than BAT activity, the study mentioned that IRT may not be able to distinguish maximally activated BAT from inactivated BAT. However, our aim is not to differentiate maximally activated from inactivated BAT but rather to link its heat production to the predictor variables. Therefore, IRT constitutes the most appropriate method for our study. Many different protocols exist for BAT assessment using IRT [(Brasil et al, 2020)][8]: the CORE lab decided to use [Costello et al, 2013][9]’s procedure. The elevation of temperature ΔTBAT due to BAT in response to cooling will be the difference between TBAT(acclimation) and TBAT(cooling) (see the procedure). The central dependent variable will be ΔBAT normalized by ΔTC, the difference TC(acclimation) and TC(cooling) of the sternal skin area. ---------- You can have access to the codebook [here][15] (incomplete at the moment) which contains all the variables mentioned in the protocol. The rows in yellow are still under revision. [1]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/244988788_Use_of_thermal_imaging_in_sports_medicine_research_A_short_report [2]: https://psyarxiv.com/35jtx [3]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12902417/ [4]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337577827_Development_and_Validation_of_the_Social_Thermoregulation_and_Risk_Avoidance_Questionnaire_STRAQ-1 [5]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/50890495_The_Experiences_in_Close_Relationships-Relationship_Structures_Questionnaire_A_Method_for_Assessing_Attachment_Orientations_Across_Relationships [6]: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1985-27000-001 [7]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338731518_A_systematic_review_on_the_role_of_infrared_thermography_in_the_Brown_adipose_tissue_assessment [8]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338731518_A_systematic_review_on_the_role_of_infrared_thermography_in_the_Brown_adipose_tissue_assessment [9]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/244988788_Use_of_thermal_imaging_in_sports_medicine_research_A_short_report [10]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305274959_Glucocorticoids_Acutely_Increase_Brown_Adipose_Tissue_Activity_in_Humans_Revealing_Species-Specific_Differences_in_UCP-1_Regulation [11]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233484692_Analysis_of_Thermal_Imagers [12]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4758213/ [13]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22677567/ [14]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338731518_A_systematic_review_on_the_role_of_infrared_thermography_in_the_Brown_adipose_tissue_assessment [15]: https://osf.io/f2dhp/