Social Anxiety in Generation Z and What we can do to Help

You are invited to take part in a research study about how members of Generation Z experience social anxiety. This form is part of a process called “informed consent” to allow you to understand this study before deciding whether to take part.

This study seeks 10 to 15 volunteers who are:

• Adult members of Generation Z who are at least 18 years of age (born 1997-2006)
• Individuals who identify as having difficulties with social anxiety

This study is being conducted by a researcher named Dr. Janeé Steele, who is a faculty member at Walden University.

Study Purpose:

The purpose of this study is to is to learn more about the unique experience of social anxiety among adult members of Generation Z.

Procedures:

This study would involve you completing the following steps:

• Completion of the study’s consent form, which should take 5 minutes
• Completion of a demographic questionnaire, which should take 5 minutes
• Completion of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, which should take 10 minutes
• Participation in one semi-structured interview, which is anticipated to take up to 1 hour
• Review of a summary of the interview, which is anticipated to take up to 30 minutes

Here are some sample questions:

• “What social situations tend to cause you the most anxiety?”
• “How do you view yourself during social situations?”
• “What assumptions do you have about other people going into social situations?”
• “How does social anxiety affect your social, work, or school life?”

Voluntary Nature of the Study:

Research should only be done with those who freely volunteer. So everyone involved will respect your decision to join or not.

If you decide to join the study now, you can still change your mind later. You may stop at any time.

Risks and Benefits of Being in the Study:

Being in this study could involve some risk of the minor discomforts that can be encountered in daily life such as sharing sensitive information. With the protections in place, this study would pose minimal risk to your wellbeing. If distress arises, support can be obtained via www.FindTreatment.gov or 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

This study offers no direct benefits to individual volunteers. The aim of this study is to benefit society by providing knowledge that can contribute to more effective social anxiety treatments for members of Generation Z, helping to improve functioning and mental health among this group. Results of this study will be automatically published online in Scholarworks (a publication of Walden University doctoral research) which can be viewed free of charge.

Payment:

The researcher will email a $25 Amazon gift card to volunteers who meet the inclusion requirements and complete the interview.

Privacy:

The researcher is required to protect your privacy. Your identity will be kept confidential at your choice, within the limits of the law. As a licensed professional counselor, I am a mandated reporter. Therefore, there are certain limits to confidentiality. These limits include threats of harm that may potentially leading to serious bodily injury; suspected abuse of a vulnerable person such as a child, elderly person, or person with diminished physical or mental capacity; intent to carry out physical harm against a third party; and when ordered by the court. In these instances, I would share information with the appropriate authorities to get everyone the help they need. Otherwise, the researcher is only allowed to share your identity or contact information as needed with Walden University officials (who are also required to protect your privacy) or with authorities if court-ordered (very rare). The researcher will not use your personal information for any purposes outside of this research project. Also, the researcher will not include your name or anything else that could identify you in the study reports. If the researcher were to share this dataset with another researcher in the future, the dataset would contain no identifiers so this would not involve another round of obtaining informed consent. Data will be kept secure by recording your interviews directly to a password protected computer and then storing them on a password protected flash drive. Your name will not be used during interviews and therefore will not be associated with data collected during this time. Data will be kept for a period of at least 5 years, as required by the university.

Contacts and Questions:

You can ask questions of the researcher by email at janee.steele@mail.waldenu.edu. If you want to talk privately about your rights as a participant or any negative parts of the study, you can call Walden University’s Research Participant Advocate at 612-312-1210. Walden University’s approval number for this study is 10-29-24-7833535. It expires on October 28, 2025.

You might wish to retain this consent form for your records. You may ask the researcher or Walden University for a copy at any time using the contact info above.

Obtaining Your Consent

If you feel you understand the study and wish to volunteer, please indicate your consent by clicking “Next” below.