Attachment Web Study
You are invited to participate in a research study entitled (REC reference number: 07/H0805)
Attachment Style in Psychosis/Bipolar Disorder and Healthy controls (web study)
Your participation is voluntary and you are not required to participate if you do not want to.
Purpose of the study
We are interested in learning more about the attachment style of people who have experienced psychosis or who have a bipolar disorder and people who have no history of mental health problems. “Attachment style” is a term we use to describe how people have learned to relate to the person they feel most close to, which we think is primarily determined from their childhood experiences. We wish to understand how these experiences influence the way people relate to the person they feel most close to, and whether there are cultural differences between people from African-Caribbean, White-British and other cultural backgrounds. We think understanding these experiences and learning more about your attachment style is important for improving the treatment and contact with mental health services of people who have problems with their mental health. We also need a comparison group of people with no mental health difficulties in order to understand whether there are any differences in these childhood and attachment relationship experiences.
What do I have to do?
You will only have to complete two online questionnaires. Both questionnaires together should last approximately 1 hour.
The first part of the study (Part I) has a questionnaire with questions about your demographic history (your date of birth, ethnic group etc) and about your relationship with a person in your life who is currently very close to you. This is what we call your “Attachment figure” or significant other. If you do not currently have an ‘attachment figure’ then you will complete some other questions about your relationships with people in general.
The second part of the study (Part II) has a questionnaire with questions about your childhood history and experiences. There are questions that look at both positive and negative experiences. You do not need to elaborate on any of these experience if you find them too upsetting. Simply indicating whether you had these experiences would be enough.
Completing these questionnaires is very easy, as you only have to select the answer that is closest to what you are like. There is no writing involved, and there are no right or wrong answers.
Who can take part?
Any person older than 18 can participate (with or without mental health difficulties). Please remember to indicate where you found the questionnaire on the web and be as truthful as you can about your demographic history and other aspects of the study. Remember it is all anonymous. We do not know who you are and we never ask!
What are the benefits for participating?
You may find completing this questionnaire an interesting experience as many people do. You are also helping us to understand better the factors that may predict good engagement with clinical services and also understand whether there any significant differences in attachment relationship and childhood experiences between people with a history of psychosis/bipolar disorder or other mental health problems and people with no such histories.
Are there any risks? Can I withdraw from the study?
We think we have taken great care to make the questionnaires as comfortable as possible. If you have had some difficult childhood experiences you may find it a bit upsetting to write about them. If that is the case, you can either decline to answer any childhood related questions you do not like or simply terminate the questionnaire at any time. Choosing to stop the questionnaire at any time will not affect your right to participate in future studies in any way.
What happens to my reports and data?
All the information that you provide will be kept entirely confidential within our research team. We will store them without using any identifying information such as your name for example. At the end of the study the reports will all be analysed for the whole group rather than each individual person. We abide with the Data Protection Act of 1998. You are only asked to optionally submit your email address in the event you wish to receive further updates about the study or take part in future studies.
More questions?
Please contact our research psychologist Mr Yanni Malliaris (yanni@bipolarlab.com / +44-207-193-5746) who will be happy to answer any of your questions. Or altenatively you can write at the following address: Yanni Malliaris, P025, Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, SE5 8AF
OK, I am happy with everything! How do I participate?
Please use the following link:
