My name is Jacolyn Norrish and as part of a PhD (Psychology) my supervisor Dr Dianne Vella-Brodrick and I, are conducting research into adolescent well-being and the factors that promote mental health. We are both from the School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine at Monash University.
The purpose of this study is to identify factors associated with adolescent well-being which may be taught to adolescents who wish to improve their well-being and mental health. Information gained in this study will be used to develop a list of qualities that are present in adolescents with high well-being. This information will be used to develop a program aiming to increase adolescent well-being and mental health.
We would like to invite adolescents between the ages of 14 – 17 to participate in this study.
There are two stages to this study
This stage of the study will take about an hour and can be done in your own time. Please be aware that your responses can only be accessed by us, the researchers.
Some of the questionnaires ask about your experience of depression and anxiety. While some responses to these measures could indicate that you are at risk of problems with depression or anxiety, by itself it is not enough information to make an accurate assessment about your mental health. We will not inform you or your parents/guardians about your test results.
If you or your parents have any concerns about depression or anxiety, please contact a free counselling service, such as KidsHelpLine on 1800 55 1800 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. You can also contact the Australian Psychological Society on 1800 333 497 for a referral to a psychologist. You can refer to the following websites for mental health information and details about the various locations of community health centres and services:
www.health.vic.gov.au/communityhealth/service_provider/community_health_directory.htm
www.serviceseeker.com.au
www.reachout.com.au
For participants outside Australia, please note the following website for an international directory of mental health services:
www.wfmh.org/00GlobalAd.htm
For the second stage of this study, a selection of participants will be invited to take part in phone interviews. The purpose of this stage is to gain further insight into how adolescents can improve well-being and to gain input into the design of the program.
If you are selected to participate in the phone interviews, and your consent has been obtained, we will call you to invite you to participate in this stage of the study.
Participating in telephone interviews will involve answering some questions on how adolescents can improve well-being. This will take place at a time convenient to the participants and the researchers and will be audio recorded. Participation in the phone interviews is voluntary, and you are able to stop at any time.
Information relevant to both stages of the study
If you do not wish to take part in a phone interview you are still welcome to take part in the first stage of this study. Please note that only a small number of participants will be required for the phone interviews.
In accordance with Monash University regulations, only the researchers will have access to the original data and the questionnaires and audio recordings will be stored in a private location for at least 5 years after which they will be shredded.
Overall findings of this study will be published in a research paper, a conference paper and/or an oral presentation. However, no findings or details that will identify individual participants will be published.
Individual scores on the questionnaires will not be available, however, if you have any queries or would like to be informed of the overall research findings please contact Dr Vella-Brodrick on 03 9903 2542 or via email at dianne.vella-brodrick@med.monash.edu.au or myself via email at jacolyn.norrish@med.monash.edu.au
Please discuss your participation in this research with a parent/guardian. Please let them know that they are free to contact the researchers if they have any questions or would like to receive an explanatory statement about the study.
If you would like a letter from the researchers stipulating that you have taken part in this research project, and therefore have made a valuable contribution to mental health research, please email the researchers and one will be forwarded to you. Similarly, if you would like to go into the draw to win some movie tickets, please email the researchers with your contact details.
Please also pass the details of this study or our contact details onto any one else you know who may be interested in participating.
If participating in this study makes you feel distressed, please contact one of the free counselling services listed below.
KidsHelp Line 1800 55 1800 www.kidshelp.com.au
Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au
Should you have any complaint concerning the manner in which this research is conducted, please do not hesitate to contact the Monash University Standing Committee on Ethics in Research Involving Humans at the following address:
| If you would like to contact the researchers about any aspect of this study, please contact the Chief Investigator: | If you have a complaint concerning the manner in which this research (CF08/0540 2008000255) is being conducted, please contact: |
| Dianne Vella-Brodrick Tel: +61 3 9903 2542 Fax: +61 3 9903 2501 Email: Dianne.Vella-Brodrick@med.monash.edu.au |
Human Ethics Officer Standing Committee on Ethics in Research Involving Humans (SCERH) Building 3e Room 111 Research Office Monash University VIC 3800 Tel: +61 3 9905 2052 Fax: +61 3 9905 1420 Email: scerh@adm.monash.edu.au |
Thank you,
Jacolyn Norrish