Beliefs about Emotions, Strategies to Manage Emotions, and Mental Health in Sport Participant Information Sheet

Participant Information Sheet

Dear Prospective participant,

Thank you for considering taking part in this study, which has been approved by the University of Birmingham’s School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences’ Ethical Review Committee. We’d like to invite you to participate in our research project. All details are outlined in this information sheet including what will be required if you decide to participate. It is important to make sure that you take time to carefully read through this information to make sure you fully understand the project and what’s involved before you consent to participate. If there is anything on this sheet that you would like to discuss more or have questions about, please contact us on the contact details listed at the bottom of this sheet. Alternatively, if you wish to discuss the project with someone independent or raise any concerns to an independent contact, please email RPS.Bham@gmail.com. We’d like to thank you in advance for taking the time to read this document and for considering participating in our research

What is the study about?
This research is part of a final year undergraduate dissertation project at the University of Birmingham and aims to understand what athletes believe about their emotions, how they may try to manage their emotions, and how these beliefs and emotion management techniques relate to their mental health and wellbeing.

As an athlete, by sharing your experiences on this research topic, you would be helping us to better understand this population’s approach to emotions which we can use to better support athletes in training with managing their emotions and promoting and sustaining good mental health and wellbeing in future.

Who can take part?

Anyone of any gender and ethnicity who meets the below inclusion criteria can participate in this study if they:

Are between the ages of 18 to 25
Take part in a sport
Have been participating in their sport for a minimum of 6-months
Are able to read and understand English language
Have no diagnosis of a mental health condition at the time of taking part in the study

What will my participation involve?

If you meet the inclusion criteria and decide to participate, you will be invited to complete an online questionnaire pack which will involve you responding to a series of questions which will ask about your beliefs about emotions, strategies you may or may not use to manage your emotions, and indicators of your mental health (including stress, depression, anxiety, and vitality). We will also ask some demographic questions about you (e.g., your age, gender, ethnicity, and information about your sport such as number of hours you train and how long you have taken part in it) which helps us to know our sample. This questionnaire pack should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete.

Although some people may consider some questions in the questionnaire pack to be of a sensitive nature (e.g., assessing how stressed you have been feeling), questionnaires completed are no more demanding than questions and activities experienced in daily living and you are free to not answer any question you find distressing or do not wish to answer. If you require any additional support with some of the issues linked to mental health in this study, appropriate contact details are provided at the bottom of this information sheet.

Do I have to take part?

Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. Please note that the decision of whether or not you decide to participate will have no impact on the relationship you have with any University of Birmingham staff members or how you are treated by any of the research team. If you are a university of Birmingham student, your decision will also not influence your academic progression. You may also withdraw at any time up to two weeks after you complete the questionnaire pack without having to give us an explanation or any negative consequences. If you choose to withdraw from the study, please contact us (contact details at the end of this information sheet) to inform us of your decision. You do not need to give any reason for this, participation is not compulsory. If you decide to withdraw during the aforementioned withdrawal period, your data will be destroyed and not included in the data analyses. Please be aware that we cannot remove your data from the study after this 2-week time frame as after this, your data will not be identifiable to withdraw.

What are the benefits and risks of taking part?
By participating, you will have the option to enter a prize draw for the chance to win up to £50 in Amazon vouchers. If you withdraw during participation of the questionnaire pack, you will not be eligible to be entered into the prize draw, however if you withdraw your data following completion of the questionnaire pack you will still be entered.

If you are a first year or second year student in the School of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation Sciences, you can receive 0.5 research hour when you have completed the study. If you are a student in another school within The University of Birmingham that offers renumeration for taking part in research, you may also be able to claim 0.5 hour of research credits. Eligibility for this is dependent on schools so please email us to check whether your school qualifies for the research hours. If you are eligible for research hours and decide to withdraw your data from the study in the two weeks after completing the study you will still be awarded the research hour. However, if you decide to withdraw before completing the study you will not receive the research hour. Your participation in our study will also help advance our understanding about how athletes regulate their emotions.

The risks of taking part in this study are no more than those of day to day stressors. The topic of mental health can be sensitive; therefore, we would like to advise you that you can stop participating in the study at any point or skip any questions you do not feel comfortable answering. Should any questions lead you to distress, we have provided resources you can contact at the bottom of this information sheet and at the end of the questionnaire pack. A brief summary presenting the results and findings will be available upon request at the end of the study.

Will my personal information remain private?
All data collected in the questionnaire will be kept private and confidential however it will not be anonymous to enable you to withdraw your data up to 2-weeks after taking part. Your data will not be stored with your name but instead will be assigned a unique ID which will be generated by answering some questions at the start of the questionnaire pack. This ID number will help us locate your data should you decide to withdraw. Data will be stored on password protected computers which will only be accessible by the researchers listed at the bottom of this document. In accordance with the University of Birmingham’s data protection guidelines, all identifiable data will be stored securely for a minimum of 10 years after which it will be permanently destroyed.

Upon completion of the project, the data collected will be made open access on a scientific online database. No identifiable data will be made available, and your unique ID number will be removed from this file so the datafile will be completely anonymous. If you do not want your data to be made publicly accessible, you have the right to not consent to this and your data will be removed from the dataset.

Who else is taking part?
We will be recruiting other individuals who like you fit the inclusion criteria described previously.

Do I have to sign anything?
Yes, if you agree to participate we will ask you to complete an electronic Consent Form by typing your name. This is to show that you have understood what is involved and that you have read this Information Sheet. After completing the consent form you may still withdraw at any time up to 2-weeks after completing the final questionnaire pack without having to give us an explanation.