About this study
Examining Socioeconomic and Demographics Influences on Resilience Among Trainee Counsellors
You are invited to take part in a research study. Please read the description below carefully.
What is the purpose of this study?
Because counselling courses are intense and demanding, resilience is crucial for trainee counsellors to succeed in their course and thrive in their counselling careers. We know resilience is impacted by a range of internal and professional factors, but we are investigating how socioeconomic and demographic factors are associated with trainee counsellors’ resilience levels. This awareness could help educators tailor support and training to those who would most benefit.
What is involved in the study?
This study asks you to complete an online questionnaire containing questions about the following:
- Some background details, such as age, gender, etc.
- Your available social support.
- Your levels of resilience.
This questionnaire can be completed at any time in the next week. It should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete this questionnaire, but the whole questionnaire must be completed in one sitting as it is not possible to save and return to your answers. If you have signed up to participate in this study through the School of Human and Behavioural Science Student Participation System (SONA), then will receive one course credit after submitting this questionnaire. Please note that some of the questions in this study will be available in the medium of English only, because these measures have not been validated for research through the medium of Welsh.
What if I don’t want to take part?
It is up to you to decide whether you would like to participate. Your participation is completely voluntary. You can withdraw from the study without having to provide any explanation. You can do this by simply closing your web browser page before submitting. However, since the study is anonymous, we will not be able to remove your responses after you have clicked to submit as they will no longer be identifiable to the research team.
Is there anything else I should know?
It is not expected that this study will result in any distress or offence. However, the questionnaire focuses on topics related to mental health and wellbeing, so it is possible that thinking about these topics may result in brief discomfort. In the unlikely event that these questions draw your attention to any distressing thoughts or raise concerns, we recommend that you contact one of the following support services:
Your GP
Mind (English): https://www.mind.org.uk/ Telephone 0300 123 3393
Mind (Welsh): https://www.mind.org.uk/cy/mind-cymru/ Telephone 0300 123 3393
Samaritans (English): https://www.samaritans.org/ Telephone 116 123
Samaritans (Welsh): https://www.samaritans.org/england-cy/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/welsh-language-phone-line/ Telephone 0808 164 0123
If you are a Bangor University student, you can also contact Bangor University Student Counselling Service: Tel 01248 388520 https://www.bangor.ac.uk/studentservices/counselling/
Will my taking part in the study be kept confidential?
Your responses and data will be treated as strictly confidential. We will not be collecting IP-addresses and your data will be fully anonymised. This means that you will not be able to request its removal once you have begun to complete the survey. Your data will be combined with those of the other participants. The study results will form part of an MSc research dissertation and may be published in academic seminars, research talks or papers in scientific journals. However, it will not be possible for anyone to identify your responses in these publications. You can also choose to skip any questions within the questionnaire by answering 'prefer not to say' or typing 'X' or 'no answer' in the free text boxes.
At the end of the study, the anonymised dataset may be deposited on a publicly available data repository so that other scientists can check and examine our results for themselves. Access to your data will be strictly restricted to the study researchers and MSc dissertation examiners, although occasionally authorised Bangor University staff can request access for auditing purposes.
Contact information
Information about this study:Who is running the study?
This questionnaire is being completed as part of an MSc in Counselling within the Department of Psychology in the School of Psychology and Sport Science at Bangor University. The study is led by Professor Fay Short and Dr Suzy Clarkson.
Who has reviewed the study?
The study has been given a favourable opinion by a Bangor University Approved Research Ethics Committee (Project ID: 0449). Bangor University has appropriate insurance in place in the unlikely event that you suffer harm as a direct consequence of your participation in this study.
Who do I contact if I have any questions about this study?
If you wish to contact the student researchers of this study, please contact:
Craig Stasiuk on crs23chv@bangor.ac.uk
Who do I contact with any concerns about this study?
If you have a concern about any aspect of this study, please contact Prof Fay Short on f.short@bangor.ac.uk or Dr Suzy Clarkson on s.clarkson@bangor.ac.uk. We will attempt to contact with a response within three working days. If, after that, you wish to take the matter further or make a formal complaint, please contact Bangor University's Senior Research Governance & Policy Officer, Governance Services, Bangor /e-mail: seniorresearchgovofficer@bangor.ac.uk.
Contact email: crs23chv@bangor.ac.uk