I am a doctoral student at Widener University working on my dissertation research study. We invite your child to be in our study if your child is:
• Between 12 and 17 years of age,
• Has a sibling who was diagnosed with cancer as a child,
• Has not had cancer themselves
If it is okay with you, and if your child would like to be in the study, he/ she will be asked to answer questions in an online survey. These questions usually take about 15 to 25 minutes to complete. There are no right or wrong answers. We are just interested in learning about how your child feels, how they get along with friends and family, and how they feel about their social relationships. We hope that the questions will not be upsetting for your child, but they might be for some children. If you want to look at the questions before deciding, you can see the questions here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/39F7LZS (This is not the survey). If you think that your child may be upset when thinking about their brother/sister's cancer and treatment, you may:
- Decide not to be in the study. It is voluntary and up to you.
- Choose to let your child be in the study, but stay nearby while they complete the questionnaire.
If your child becomes upset when answering these questions, they can do any of the following:
• Stop and take a break, and fill out the rest of the survey later (if they still want to).
• Stop the survey, and not submit their answers.
• Complete and submit the survey, and talk with you about what they are feeling or thinking.
In case your child becomes upset and needs more support, there is a list of options for getting emotional support at the end of the survey. If your child decides that they don’t want to be in the study after they’ve started the survey, they can exit and not submit their answers.
Your child’s answers are very important and helpful, but we want your family to remain private. You and your child will not write your names, or anything to tell us who you are, so no one will know who gave us the answers. The survey will not record your Internet address. We will never know your identity or be able to share any information about you or your child.Your child can stop the study at any time, if they decide to. Since we will have no idea who gave which answers, we will not be able to withdraw your answers after they are submitted
We really appreciate your help with this survey. As with all studies, we have to inform you that the researchers and Widener University are not responsible for any problems, emotional or otherwise, that may happen during this study. Thank you for helping us better understand the things that siblings of children with cancer go through.
There are no costs for being in the study. You and your child will not receive any payment or any other direct benefits for being in the study. However, by sharing about his or her experiences, your child could help us help other children and families in the future.
Completing the survey is voluntary. There are no ways other than completing the online survey to participate in the study. If you agree, or consent, to let your child be in the study do the following:
1. Click “Next,” and have your child read the second page. This page is an explanation to make sure they agree to answer the questions too.
2. Have your child fill out the survey on the computer, and click “Submit.”
3. Make sure your child is feeling ok about the survey, and about answering the questions.
If you have any other questions about this study, please contact Cortney Rieck at cvrieck@mail.widener.edu. If you have any questions about the rights of research participants, you may call the Chairperson of the Widener University’s Institutional Review Board at 610-499-4110.
Thank you, again, for taking the time to consider helping with this study!
Cortney Rieck, Doctoral Student
Principal Investigator
Widener University