You are being asked to take part in a research study. Before you decide to participate in this study, it is important that you understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please read the following information carefully. Please ask the researcher if there is anything that is not clear or if you need more information.

This PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) study will be conducted by Irmelin Hovland-Hegg,( PhD student at ELTE, Institute of Psychology, Department of Affective Psychology) under the supervision of Dr. Renata Cserjési (Senior Lecturer at ELTE, Institute of Psychology, Department of Affective Psychology) and co-supervisor Dr. Alexander Logemann (Senior Lecturer at ELTE, Institute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology).

The purpose of this study is to collect data and investigate whether there is a difference in emotional expressiveness, recognition and shifting between young adults born pre term and young adults born at term. Medical birth data are important in this context, as it may indicate possible associations. Further, a goal is also to investigate if there are any gender differences within and between the groups, and to identify if there are differences that may be connected to the degree of prematurity. 

The study is an online study. Initially participants will be asked questions related to gender, family, educational level and medical birth data. Questionnaires related to depression and anxiety will also be presented. Finally, participants will be asked to respond to psychological inventories related to emotional recognition (video clips), questionnaires related to describing and identifying emotions, and a task for emotional shifting. 

Participants are encouraged to ask parents or primary caregivers of medical birth data if the participant does not have this kind of information available.

The study is for research purposes only. It is not for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, and participation in the study will not provide psychological treatment or assessment for participants. 

 

Risks
It is assessed that this research is not representing any risk or harmful reactions for the participants. The participant may decline to answer any or all questions and you may terminate your involvement at any time if you choose.

Benefits

This study is an exploratory study, which will provide important information of young adults born pre term. Young adults born pre term is studied in a lesser degree, and the current knowledge of difficulties and challenges related to emotional recognition and expressiveness is sparse. 

The benefit of this research will be that we will gain insight in the field. This insight may provide a basis for further studies, and in general an increased knowledge. This may, in turn, lead to development of better intervention programs, in order to provide help measures for young adults born pre term. Further, it may also provide a basis for developing early interventions, which may alleviate or reduce challenges young adult pre-terms may face today. 

Participating in the study will not provide a direct benefit for the participants, but the information obtained may be valuable for future research and developing intervention programs. 

 

Voluntary Participation and Right to Withdraw
Participation in this study is voluntary. It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part in this study. If you decide to take part in this study, you will be asked to sign a consent form electronically. After you sign the consent form, you are still free to withdraw at any time and without giving a reason. Withdrawing from this study will not affect the relationship you have, if any, with the researcher. If you withdraw from the study before data collection is completed, your data will be destroyed. 

Confidentiality and Anonymity

Your responses to this online study is anonymous. Every effort will be made by the researcher to preserve your confidentiality including the following: 

Only those researchers involved in the project will have access to the data. Data will be kept on a password secured computer and in locked cabinets. Data will be anonymous and will be stored for at least 15 years. Your data will be used for the aim as described above and the experiment will plausibly result in a publication in an academic journal were results are presented on group-level. Upon written request (via e-mail) we can provide the results of the project to the interested reader. However, as data is acquired anonymous, we cannot provide you with your personal results. Scores form the emotional recognition test from this study and the basic demographic information of participants will be provided to EURECA after the data are obtained, and the publication that reports these data. This is a part of the user agreement with University of Geneva for the GERT test.