DEAKIN UNIVERSITY
PLAIN LANGUAGE STATEMENT AND CONSENT FORM
Full Project Title: Non-suicidal self-injury and personality in a cognitive-behavioural framework
Principal Researcher: Dr Helen Mildred
Student Researcher: Jodie Thomas
Associate Researcher: A/Prof David Mellor
Your Consent
You are invited to take part in this research project. We are seeking people aged over 18 years, who are able to answer questions in English using a computer.
This Plain Language Statement contains detailed information about the research project. Its purpose is to explain to you as openly and clearly as possible all the procedures involved in this project so that you can make a fully informed decision whether you are going to participate.
Please read this Plain Language Statement carefully. Feel free to ask questions about any information in the document. You may also wish to discuss the project with a relative or friend or your local health worker. Feel free to do this.
Once you understand what the project is about and if you agree to take part in it, you will be asked to agree to participate. By agreeing to participate, you indicate that you understand the information and that you give your consent to participate in the research project.
Purpose and Background
The purpose of this project is to examine how particular personality styles, thoughts and feelings may be linked to the presence or absence of behaviour where a person hurts themselves on purpose without meaning to end their life. Previous research has shown that some people may be more inclined to hurt themselves on purpose than others. The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between particular thoughts, feelings and personality styles with self-inflicted injuries. It is hoped that the information gathered will lead to a greater understanding of these behaviours and may be used to help people to cope in less harmful ways.
The results of this research may be used to help Jodie Thomas obtain a DPsych (Clinical) degree.
Funding
This research is totally funded by Deakin University, School of Psychology within the Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences.
Procedures
Participation in this project will involve:
· Completing a questionnaire in your own time and on your own computer. Questions will be asked about your personality, thoughts and feelings (for example: rating how well “I can’t stop thinking about some things” describes you or, rating in the last week how true the statement “I could not express my feelings” is for you). If you have ever hurt yourself on purpose without meaning to end your life, there are questions about what sorts of behaviours you may have engaged in the past. You should not do this part of the survey if you think that you would find this distressing, nor should you proceed in the survey if you find any question distressing.
· The questionnaire usually takes about an hour of your time to complete.
Possible Benefits
Possible benefits may include learning about your personality style, thoughts and feelings; although we cannot guarantee or promise that you will receive any benefits from participating in this project. Possible benefits for the field of psychology include learning more and understanding the thoughts, feelings and personality styles of people who hurt themselves on purpose. With greater understanding it is hoped that the information gathered in this project may be used to help people to cope using less harmful behaviours.
Possible Risks
We do not think that you should experience any significant inconvenience while completing this questionnaire. It is not expected that this study will be stressful or demanding, but if any research question causes you any discomfort, please feel free to withdraw from the study. There may be additional unforseen or unknown risks, if you become upset or experience any distress, please speak with someone you trust or call Lifeline on 13 11 14 to talk things through. Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in Australia. If you are not from Australia, please contact your local health service or a 24 hour support phone line. Such phone numbers are often listed in the front of phone books. Alternatively, you may access these self-help websites http://dailystrength.org/c/Self-Injury/support-group or http://www.sisupport.org
Privacy, Confidentiality and Disclosure of Information
The questionnaire is anonymous. Any information obtained in connection with this project and that can identify you will remain confidential. If you agree
to participate, we plan to use the results in a research thesis and possibly in a research publication. In any publication, information will be reported as group data and individual results will not be used. This means that you will not be personally identifiable in any published results of this research project.
The information obtained by completing this questionnaire will be stored as per Deakin University’s research regulations. This includes storage of the information at Deakin University for a minimum of six years from the date that the research report is completed, after which the files will be permanently destroyed. All files will be kept on the Deakin University server behind a firewall, and will be password protected. The only people who will be able to access the file will be the researchers involved in the project.
Results of Project
If you are interested in having the results of this research sent to you, you will be asked to provide a contact address for this purpose and we will not contact you under any other circumstance. Only group results will be available, it will not be possible to provide individual results, as the information collected will be anonymous. There may be a long delay between completing the questionnaire and the availability of the results as this research project will not be completed until December 2010.
Participation is Voluntary
Participation in any research project is voluntary. If you do not wish to take part you are not obliged to. If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you are free to withdraw from the project at any stage until the questionnaire is submitted to the Deakin University server. Once you have submitted the questionnaire, it will not be possible to withdraw from the project as no personal identifying information is being collected and the researchers will not be able to locate your individual questionnaire. The exception to this will be if you provide contact details (to obtain the results of the study). In this case if you wish to withdraw, you can e-mail the research supervisor and your answers will be permanently destroyed.
Your decision whether to take part or not to take part, or to take part and then withdraw, will not affect your relationship with Deakin University or any other organisation to the best of our knowledge.
Before you make your decision, you can email the research team with any questions you have about the research project. You can ask for any information you want. There may be a small delay in response to questions, but you will receive an answer as soon as possible. Agree to participate only after you have had a chance to ask your questions and have received satisfactory answers.
Ethical Guidelines
This project will be carried out according to the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007) produced by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. This statement has been developed to protect the interests of people who agree to participate in human research studies.
The ethical aspects of this research project have been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Deakin University.
Complaints
If you have any complaints about any aspect of the project, the way it is being conducted or any questions about your rights as a research participant, then you may contact:
The Executive Officer, Human Research Ethics Committee, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood Victoria 3125, Telephone: 9251 7123, Facsimile: 9244 6581; research-ethics@deakin.edu.au.
Please quote project number: EC 6-2009
Further Information, Queries or Any Problems
If you require further information, wish to withdraw your participation or if you have any problems concerning this project, you can contact the principal researcher Dr Helen Mildred at helen.mildred@deakin.edu.au or by telephone on (03) 9251 7371 (International Ph: +613 9251 7371).
The researchers responsible for this project are:
Dr Helen Mildred, Jodie Thomas and A/Prof David Mellor
School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences
Deakin University
221 Burwood Highway
Burwood, Vic, 3125
Do you wish to participate in this project?