BARRY UNIVERSITY
Cover Letter
| Invitation to be Part of a Research Study |
You are invited to participate in a research study entitled:
Early Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental Health
Faculty Researcher: Linda L. Bacheller, PsyD, JD, Associate Professor, [email protected]
- The purpose of the study is to investigate the association between early childhood experiences and adult mental health.
- Participation is voluntary. You may withdraw at any time without penalty.
- If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete the following surveys: DASS-21, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), NIMH, Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 Item Scale (GAD-7), Trauma-Related Shame Inventory (TRSI-24), the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), the Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory (TRGI), and a Demographics Questionnaire.
- Participation is expected to take approximately 20 minutes. It is anticipated that there will be 1000 participants.
- There is minimal risk to this study.
- Risks to participating in this study include remembering past childhood traumatic events.
- Possible psychological and emotional risks or discomfort may occur as a result of some of the questions. If you are experiencing uncomfortable feelings, please call: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255); Crisis Text Line: Text "START" TO 741-741; Planned Parenthood Hotline: 1-800-230-PLAN (7526); LGBT Hotline: 1-888-843-4564 ; United States of America: SAMHSA’s National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
- Participation in the study will not lead to any direct benefits to you.
- The results of the study may help us understand the effects of adverse childhood experiences and adult mental health. It may help us understand whether individuals with adverse experiences and/or trauma have a greater risk for mental health disorders.
| Anonymity/Confidentiality |
- All study data (i.e., observation, interview, focus group, implementation, and outcome data) will be kept confidential.
- No participant, site, or institution names will be used in reports of the findings.
- As a research participant, the information you provide will be kept anonymous, that is, no names or other identifiers will be collected. Your opinions will be collected via an anonymous online survey tool, PsychData. The following description outlines PsychData’s policies with respect to confidentiality and data security: “PsychData is specifically designed to meet and exceed industry standards for Internet security as well as IRB standards for the protection of research participants. Our servers, database, and web presence employ multiple forms of enterprise-level security features to accomplish these goals. PsychData utilizes Secure Socket Layer (SSL) 256-bit encryption technology to ensure the protection of all data transactions on our website. Data is encrypted at the instant that a user submits it and can only be decoded by the target server. PsychData maintains an SSL certificate from VeriSign, the industry leader in SSL technology.” In addition, PsychData allows for disabling IP address collection, thereby assuring that the results I will receive will be truly anonymous and there will be no record kept of your IP address nor linkages I could utilize to identify you. Upon completion of data collection, all electronic data will be downloaded and then deleted from the PsychData server.
- All data will be kept indefinitely OR for at least five years following completion of the study.
- If it becomes necessary to destroy the data at a later time, electronic data will be destroyed by double deleting from the hard drive and Recycle Bin. Hard copy data will be shredded.
| Use of Date in the Future |
These data—with identifiers removed--may also be used in future research or distributed to another investigator without additional informed consent. OR These data will not be used or distributed for future research studies.
| Contact Information if You Have Questions about the Research or Your Rights as a Research Participant |
If you are satisfied with the information provided and are willing to participate in this research, please signify your consent by clicking the “Continue” button below.
This Survey was reviewed and approved by the Barry University IRB. The approval number is IRB Protocol Number: 2021150-1.