PLEASE KEEP A COPY OF THIS INFORMATION SHEET
 

Investigating cultural influences on attitudes towards mental health issues
 

I would like to invite you to participate in this research project which forms part of my dissertation research. Before you decide whether you want to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what your participation will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish. Ask me if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.
 

The purpose of this project is to investigate cultural differences in attitudes towards mental health, particularly in terms of the effect of ethnic group and age As well as this research project being important for my dissertation, research into these cultural influences will be helpful in gaining a better understanding of how to improve discussions of mental health in a wide variety of environments.
 

You are being invited to participate in this project because you are an adult above the age of 18, currently living in Britain. If you do not currently live in Britain, or are under 18 years of age, you are not eligible to take part in this study.

If you choose to take part in the project, you will be asked to complete two questionnaires online regarding attitudes towards mental health. There are 36 questions in total and you will be additionally asked your age, gender, biological sex and ethnicity. It will take around 10-15 minutes to complete the study.

Participation is completely voluntary. You should only take part if you want to and choosing not to take part will not disadvantage you in any way. Once you have read the information sheet, please contact us if you have any questions that will help you make a decision about taking part. If you decide to take part, we will ask you to sign a consent form and you will be given a copy of this consent form to keep.
 

If you are a first year Psychology undergraduate, you will receive 0.5 SONA points for completing the survey.

What are the possible risks of taking part?
 

The study should not be considerably taxing, however it covers a somewhat sensitive subject area due to the study discussing mental health. If you as the participant feel uncomfortable at any point in time, you can stop taking part at any time by exiting your browser to withdraw from the study. You may also omit any questions you do not wish to answer. If you feel like you need support after the study, you can always contact the student wellbeing team if you are an LJMU student https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/discover/student-support/health-and-wellbeing or you can contact charities such as Mind or the Samaritans which are mental health charities within the UK. Details of support services will be provided on the debrief sheet at the end of the survey.

There are no clear intended benefits for any participants taking part in this study, however you will further our understanding of cultural influences on attitudes towards mental health and SONA participants will receive 0.5 SONA points for taking part

Your data will be processed under the terms of UK data protection law (including the UK General Data Protection Regulation [UK GDPR] and the Data Protection Act 2018). We will not be collecting personal information apart from your ethnicity and age in order to ensure anonymity and confidentiality. All data will be anonymised after collection. Data will only be able to be accessed by those involved in the research project.  

Liverpool John Moores University has a responsibility to keep information collected about you safe and secure, and to ensure the integrity of research data. Specialist teams within Liverpool John Moores University continually assess and ensure that data is held in the most appropriate and secure way.

If you would like more information about how your data will be processed under the terms of UK data protection laws please visit the link below:

You are free withdraw whilst completing the questionnaires without having to give a reason. Withdrawing from the project will not affect you in any way. You are able to withdraw your data from the project at any point whilst completing the questionnaires by exiting your browser. Once you have completed the survey, withdrawal of your data will no longer be possible, as the data will have been anonymised. If you choose to withdraw from the project we will not retain the information you have given thus far.
 

The results of the project will be summarised in my dissertation report.. The anonymised data set will not be publicly available.
 

If you have any questions or require more information about this project, please contact Mrithika Viswanathan Prema using the following contact details:
 

If this project has harmed you in any way or if you wish to make a complaint about the conduct of the project, you can contact Liverpool John Moores University using the details below for further advice and information:
 

Dr Paula Trotter: p.d.trotter@ljmu.ac.uk
 

The Chair, School of Psychology Research Ethics Committee: PsyREC@ljmu.ac.uk