Please note that I have received the moderators' permission to post this.
Griffith University
A Study of Deliberate Self Harm
(Protocol number PSY/B3/10/HREC)
Hello, my name is Andrea Kittila and I am a graduate student of psychology at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. For my research I am looking for people aged 18 years and over who have deliberately hurt themselves at least once in the last 12 months and who are interested in taking part in my study of deliberate self harm. This study will further researchers’ understanding of the feelings that trigger self harm, the functions of self harm, and the emotions of people who engage in deliberate self harm.
I am aware that members of online groups may have been contacted by people who appear to be posing as health professionals, or whose requests raise suspicion regarding the purpose of the research. Consequently, I would like to emphasise the following points:
I am conducting this research as part of my PhD degree in psychology, being undertaken at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.
The chief investigator (Dr Penelope Davis) is my PhD supervisor, and has had many years’ experience in conducting, supervising, and publishing research.
The research has been approved by Griffith University’s ethical review board.
The survey does not mention any pharmaceutical companies or treatments.
The survey does not ask any questions about your identity or address, and your responses cannot be traced to you.
The survey does not attempt to involve you in any groups, financial schemes, or further research.
Participation will not cost you anything (other than the cost of using the internet).
We expect that your participation will take between 25 and 45 minutes.
It is possible that participating in this study may cause emotional distress. For this reason, we advise that people who are having difficulty managing their self harm may not wish to participate in this study. All participants will receive an information sheet that provides details of a website that provides support for people who engage in self harm; we advise that you make use of this website if your participation causes you distress.
Ethical conduct of this research
Griffith University conducts research in accordance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. If you have any concerns or complaints about the ethical conduct of the research project you should contact the Senior Manager, Research Ethics and Integrity, on (07) 3735 5585 if in Australia or research-ethics@griffith.edu.au
IP addresses (which can identify the computer you are using) will not be collected when you complete the survey, so there is no way that responses can be traced to you.
If you would like more information about the current study, please feel welcome to contact Dr Penelope Davis (the chief investigator) at p.davis@griffith.edu.au, or me (Andrea Kittila, the researcher) at a.kittila@griffith.edu.au.
Please note that the survey may take up to 45 minutes to complete, and the you are not able to save your answers and return later (this is because the survey site does not save IP addresses, for your complete anonymity). So, before you start the survey, it might be a good idea to ensure that you have enough time to finish it.
Please do not start the survey and then return to it and do it again.
Last edited by random.swirls : 19-06-2011 at 05:10 PM.
Reason: The trigger labels guidelines were updated a couple of months ago and so I have removed the label added to your title xox
Just a quick note to thank people who have participated in my survey, and to let everyone know that I am still seeking participants. I greatly appreciate the time taken to respond, and am grateful for your sharing of your stories. Every single response is helpful.
Please contact me via email (a.kittila@griffith.edu.au) if you have any questions about the survey, or to advise of any technical difficulties completing the survey.
Hello and, once again, thank-you to everyone who has taken part in my research.
I would like to add that it is incredibly helpful when people answer all the questions that they feel they can answer comfortably without distress. Of course, I definitely don't want anyone to respond to a question if it would cause distress, but if you can respond to as many questions as possible, that is fantastic.
Because we don't want people to accidentally miss some questions, most pages won't let you move to the next page if you haven't responded to each question on the current page. Perhaps this has prevented some people from finishing the survey.
Again, I would like to emphasise that I don't want people to respond to questions if it would distress them. However, it's lovely if people can respond to all of the questions that they are comfortable with.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences with me.
Andy.
done :) id like to have a read of anything ur happy with me reading when ur finished, its sounds like its going to be really interesting.
Scar tissue has no character. It's not like skin. It doesn't show age or illness or pallor or tan. It has no pores, no hair, no wrinkles. It's like a slip cover. It shields and disguises what's beneath. That's why we grow it; we have something to hide.
Wear a mask that grins and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes. The debt we pay to human guile, with torn and broken hearts, we smile.
Thanks Shieldworld, Shine, Ahsley, and Broken Too Deep, that's fantastic. I really appreciate your time.
Broken Too Deep, you are welcome to email me at a.kittila@griffith.edu.au to let me know that you would like to see results, and I'll save your email in a folder of emails from people who want to see the results. That way I'll remember to send you the info. Otherwise, I'll make a note of your username and pm you the info regarding the results, but that will only work if you're still a forum member with the same username when the results are ready.
Awww shucks! 8 years of this, Lyddie, Schleier von Dunst, and evfreak42, your responses are very helpful! Thank-you very much
I would still love to have more people take part, so please contact me via pm or email if you have any questions or any difficulties.
As I've mentioned before, it's incredibly helpful when people respond to as many questions as possible, so do let me know if there are any technical problems with the questionnaire.
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