About the study
Participant Information Sheet
Anika Pande (University of Queensland)
Thank you for your interest in participating in this research project. Please read the following information about the project to decide whether you would like to take part in this research. In addition, please feel free to ask any questions you might have about our involvement in the project via the email addresses below.
Any participants of the study must be aged at least 18 years or a student of the University of Queensland. If you decide to participate in this research, please remember that your participation is voluntary. If you do not wish to participate, you do not have to. If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you are free to stop at any time, and you would not need to give any explanation for your decision to stop participating. If you choose to stop participating, your data will not be used in the research.
You will be provided with the Participant Information and an opportunity to Consent to agreeing to participate in this study, via the study online web page. Your decision, whether you take part, or not to take part, or to take part and then withdraw, will not affect your relationship with the University of Queensland.
What is this research about?
Compassion, defined as “a sensitivity to suffering in self and others, with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it” (Gilbert, 2014, p. 19), has been found to have a protective effect on psychological well-being in cross-sectional (Kirby et al., 2017) and longitudinal (Matos et al., 2022) studies. Fears of compassion, concerns people can hold about the dangers of compassion that can tend to inhibit compassionate engagement and action, have been found to have a negative impact on mental health in cross-sectional (Kirby et al., 2019) and longitudinal (Matos et al., 2021) studies.
However, various differences have been found cross-culturally (Kariyawasam et al., 2022a; Steindl et al., 2019), especially across compassion in three directions: compassion for others, receiving compassion from others, and compassion directed at oneself (or self-compassion).
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the role that assessed levels of compassion and fears of compassion at Time 1 play in psychological well-being at Time 2, whether or not a person has experienced a life stressor. We will also be examining differences cross-culturally via measures of individualistic versus collectivist cultural factors.
This study is being conducted by Glenda Lim and Anika Pande as part of the Bachelor of Psychological Sciences (Honours) degree requirements at the University of Queensland under supervision by Dr Stan Steindl and secondary supervision of Dr Marcela Matos (University of Coimbra, Portugal).
What will I need to do?
Participants are asked to fill out questionnaires at two time points, three months apart: Time 1 and Time 2. At Time 1, participants will fill out measures of compassionate engagement and action, fears of compassion, self-criticism, shame, social safeness, psychological well-being (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress), and culture. At the start of the Time 1 survey, participants will be asked to provide an email address for the purposes of the researchers recontacting the participants for the Time 2 survey. Participation at Time 1 of this study will take approximately 30 to 45 minutes and occur online. At Time 2, participants will fill out just two measures of recent life stressors and psychological well-being. Participation at Time 2 is likely to take only five to 10 minutes.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
This research will help inform our theoretical understanding of how these variables relate to each other, and how they may effect psychological well-being outcomes over time with or without the experience of major life stressors. This will help to inform the further development of compassion-based interventions. Furthermore, understanding cultural factors in compassion and fears of compassion, and how this may also relate to psychological outcomes, is a current gap in the compassion literature and as such this research will offer important additional information in this area. Specifically, this research may assist in future adaptations of compassion-based interventions to be more sensitive to the cultural factors associated with different peoples (see Kariyawasam et al., 2022b).
What are the possible risks and disadvantages of taking part?
Participation in this study should involve very minimal physical or mental discomfort and no risks beyond those of everyday living. If, however, you should find any question to be particularly difficult or uncomfortable, you are free to omit answering or participating in that aspect of the study.
If your participation in this study causes you to feel any elevated physical or mental discomfort, please access an appropriate support service. UQ students can access counselling through student services by making an online appointment via the UQ website. You can also obtain confidential support through the following options:
- Beyondblue - 1300 22 4636
- Lifeline - 13 11 14
- Kids Helpline - 1800 55 1800.
What will happen to the information about me?
All information collected about you will remain confidential. Only members of the research team will have access to the data. All data will initially be collected with a unique identifier created by you that you may use to identify your data should you later wish to withdraw your data from the study. This unique identifier will also be connected to your email address, provided at the end of the Time 1 survey, to allow the researchers to contact you at Time 2 and providing you with a link to complete the Time 2 questionnaires. Following completion of the study, all data will be de-identified and all analyses and reporting of findings will be done in such a way that responses will not be able to be linked to any individual.
The data you provide will only be used for the specific research purposes of this study. After data has been analysed and the study published the research team will remove any coded data that allows the data to be re-identified, and then the collected data will be indefinitely stored on a password protected data repository only accessible by the research team.
It is anticipated that the results of this research project will be published and/or presented in a variety of forms. In any publication and/or presentation, information will be provided in such a way that you cannot be identified, except with your expressed permission.
What will happen if I decide to withdraw?
Your participation in this research is voluntary and you are free to withdraw from the research anytime without needing to provide any explanation, and you would not receive any penalty or bias as a result of your withdrawal. Should you decide to withdraw, your data will not be used in the research.
If you wish to remove your data from the study after completion, please contact one of the project staff at their email addresses listed below. In your email, please state your unique identifier you will create during the completion of the study. The unique identifier will be used to re-identify and remove your data.
Can I hear about the results of this research?
If you would like to learn the outcome of the study in which you are participating, you can contact the research team at the email addresses above after 7th October 2024, and you will be sent a summary of the study and findings.
Who can I contact if I have any concerns about the project?
This study adheres to the Guidelines of the ethical review process of The University of Queensland and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. You are, of course, free to discuss your participation with project staff (contactable on: Glenda Lim glenda.limjiahui@uqconnect.edu.au or Anika Pande a.pande@uq.net.au or Dr Stan Steindls.steindl@uq.edu.au). If you would like to speak to an officer of the University not involved in the study, you may contact the Ethics Coordinator on +617 3365 3924 / +617 3443 1656 or email humanethics@research.uq.edu.au
Thank you for your participation in this study.
Glenda Lim, Anika Pande and Dr Stan Steindl
References
Kariyawasam, L., Ononaiye, M., Irons, C., & Kirby, S. (2022a). A cross-cultural exploration of compassion, and facilitators and inhibitors of compassion in UK and Sri Lankan people. Global Mental Health, 9, 99-110. doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2022.10
Kariyawasam, L., Ononaiye, M., Irons, C., & Kirby, S. (2022b). Exploring the Cross-cultural Applicability of a Brief Compassionate Mind Training: a Study Comparing Sri Lankan and UK People. Mindfulness. doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-02041-z
Kirby, J. N., Day, J., & Sagar, V. (2019). The ‘Flow’of compassion: A meta-analysis of the fears of compassion scales and psychological functioning. Clinical Psychology Review, 70, 26-39. doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2019.03.001
Kirby, J. N., Tellegen, C. L., & Steindl, S. R. (2017). A meta-analysis of compassion-based interventions: Current state of knowledge and future directions. Behavior Therapy, 48(6), 778-792. doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2017.06.003
Matos, M., McEwan, K., Kanovský, M., Halamová, J., Steindl, S. R., Ferreira, N., ... & Gilbert, P. (2021). Fears of compassion magnify the harmful effects of threat of COVID‐19 on mental health and social safeness across 21 countries. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 28(6), 1317-1333. doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2601
Matos, M., McEwan, K., Kanovský, M., Halamová, J., Steindl, S. R., Ferreira, N., ... & Gilbert, P. (2022). Compassion protects mental health and social safeness during the COVID-19 pandemic across 21 countries. Mindfulness, 13(4), 863-880. doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01822-2
Steindl, S. R., Yiu, R. X. Q., Baumann, T., & Matos, M. (2020). Comparing compassion across cultures: Similarities and differences among Australians and Singaporeans. Australian Psychologist, 55(3), 208-219. doi.org/10.1111/ap.12433