You are being asked to participate in a research project for coursework conducted by student researchers Lori Garner and Ian Johnson, Claremont Graduate University (CGU) and Michelle Fong and Rebecca Glick, Harvey Mudd College (HMC). You are being asked because we are interested in caregivers of children with disabilities.
PURPOSE: This research is being conducted to learn more about the nature of caregiving tasks and the impact of those tasks on well-being in caregivers of children with disabilities.
PARTICIPATION:
- You will be invited to complete two online surveys.
- You will be asked to complete the second survey three weeks after completing the first online survey.
- The first survey will take about 25 minutes to complete and the second survey will take about 15 minutes to complete.
- The surveys will including questions assessing such things as caregiver responsibilities, mental state, well-being and help-seeking behaviors.
- After the first survey, we will invite you to provide your e-mail address so that we may send you three informational e-newsletters (sent every week for three weeks).
RISKS & BENEFITS: The potential risks associated with this study are minimal. It is possible that some participants may experience psychological stress as a result of thinking about their caregiver responsibilities, mental state, well-being and help-seeking behaviors. There are no direct benefits to you as a result of participating in this study. In addition, we expect this research to benefit society at large by raising awareness of the impact of caregiving tasks on caregiver well-being. This study will obtain information that could ultimately be used promote the strategic allocation of government funds in order to provide the most benefit to special needs children and their families.
COMPENSATION: You will automatically be entered to win two $50 dollar and one $100 dollar Target gift cards for your participation. You will also be offered additional chances to win the gift cards for responding to polls included in the e-newsletters. Specifically, for every poll you complete, you will receive an additional ‘chance’ to win a gift card. After the final newsletter and post-test (second survey), winners will be selected by randomly selecting a number; this number will be selected using a random number generator. Your odds of winning depend on your level of participation.
VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION: Please understand that participation is completely voluntary. You must be 18 years of age or older to participate. Your decision whether or not to participate will in no way affect your current or future relationship with CGU, HMC or its faculty, students, or staff. You have the right to withdraw from the research at any time without penalty. You also have the right to refuse to answer any question(s) for any reason, without penalty.
CONFIDENTIALITY: Your individual privacy will be maintained in all publications or presentations resulting form this study. The following procedures will be used in an effort to keep your personal information confidential in this study:
- You will use a participant identification code to log onto the study website for each survey. Although we will maintain a document linking your password with your contact information for the duration of the study, this document is kept in a secure location and will be destroyed upon completion of the study.
- All data will be kept in a secured location.
- Your individual privacy will be maintained in all publications or presentations resulting from this study.