Consent Information Statement 

 

Introduction to Project and Invitation to Participate 

This project will require participation across two time points one month apart. If you complete participation in this project will have the opportunity to enter a draw to receive one of four $50 AUD Amazon vouchers for your time. Alternatively, if you are participating in the university's research experience program (REP), you will receive one hour credit instead. 

You are free to withdraw from the project at any time and without any explanation or consequence. 
 

The prenatal and postnatal period has been highlighted as a time of significant adjustment for parents, which can create periods of stress and uncertainty, heightening the risk of the onset of mental health struggles, including anxiety, stress and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). A key symptom which parents experience at clinical and subclinical levels of OCD includes intrusive thoughts and compulsions, which are described as thoughts, images, doubts or urges which are experienced as unwanted and distressing. 

According to the Obsessive-Compulsive Cognitive Working Group, there are three core cognitive beliefs fundamnetal to OCD, one being inflated responsibility. This belief highlights an inflated sense of responsibility in parents specifically concerning the safety and wellbeing of their baby. There has been limited research highlighting the role of various stressors in exacerbating OCD cognitions.

This project has been designed to investigate parents' experience with OCD like cognitions regarding responsibility of their child, and how parental stress can impact on the symptoms. It is expected that findings from this study will increase our understanding of how these thoughts impact functioning in parents. 
 

Participants Involvement, Rights and Interests 

Participation in this project is voluntary, and the right to withdraw is available throughout all stages of the project until the data is submitted. The student researchers will be the only ones who have access to data while in the collection phase, therefore will de-identify the data during the analysis phase.

Once you initiate interest and are eligible, you will be directed to an online questionnaire, in which contact information will be collected. You will be asked to answer questions to the best of your ability relating to five different measures regarding obsessive beliefs, parental attitudes and anxiety and stress scales. You will also be invited to read a short passage relating to this information about families and will need to answer questions about the stories along with more general questions about your mood and beliefs. This should take approximately 30-45 minutes. Following completion of the first part of the study you will be sent a new link a month later with a brief survey (approx.. 10-15min) assessing your general mood and experience of parenting. Participation should take approximately 50 minutes – 1hr.

Following completion of the second part of the study all identifying information will be removed from the data at which point your responses will become anonymous. Individual emails will be retained for participants who have chosen to enter the prize draw. These will be kept separate from the questionnaire results and will not be able to be linked to individual responses. Questionnaire results will be stored in password protected files on password protected networks and password protected personal computers. If you wish to withdraw during the project and you want your data to be deleted, you will need to contact the student researchers prior to the data being de-identified (i.e., before participating in the second part of the study). Furthermore, the anonymous data will be retained by the researchers and may be shared on scientific databases consistent with Open Science Framework best practice ensuring transparency and accountability in research. Researchers may also use the data in future projects in the area of OCD. Please note that at no time the data can be linked to you.

Some questions asked within the questionnaire may cause some mild discomfort due to their sensitive nature; for example, questions relating to parenting and parental distress. If you decide to participate and you are experiencing distress, you may pause the questionnaire and contact some support services, which may include your general practitioner and/or the services provided below. Please remember you can withdraw at any time without reason or explanation. Also, please do not hesitate to contact the researchers or access the support services listed below. 

Student Investigator: Raina Walker (rgwalker@swin.edu.au) 
 

There is also a list of national and international perinatal support services at www.postpartumprogress.com

 

If you would like to know more about the project, please feel free to contact the researchers (contact emails can be found at the bottom of this statement).

This project has been approved by or on behalf of Swinburne’s Human Research Ethics Committee (SUHREC) in line with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. If you have any concerns or complaints about the conduct of this project, you can contact:

Research Ethics Officer, Swinburne Research (H68) 
Swinburne University of Technology, P O BOX 218, HAWTHORN VIC 3122 Australia 
Tel (03) 9214 3845 or +61 3 9214 3845 or resethics@swin.edu.au 

 

P.S: This survey contains credits to get free survey responses at SurveySwap.io