Interoception, puberty and mental health
In this project we want to explore how awareness of our bodies is related to puberty and mental health. Studies in adults have found that there might be a link between mental health and interoception. However, we don’t know very much about this link in children, or whether puberty might play a role.
To investigate this, we are asking people aged 8-21 to help us. We hope that this research project will help us to identify some of the risks that might lead to mental health problems later in life, and develop ways to prevent this from happening. Moreover, this study will help us to understand whether these risks are the same in boys and girls, or whether there are any gender differences which might play a vital role.
The experiment consists of two parts:
Part 1: You will be asked to complete six questionnaires about your awareness of sensations in your body, your mood and emotions, your personality and the stage of puberty you are currently in. We would also like you to answer some short demographic questions. If you are under 16, your parent will also be asked a few questions at the start. This session should take around 30 minutes in total. If you wish to take a break from the questionnaires, you can return to the forms later (your progress will be saved, and you will be taken back to the screen you were last on).
Part 2 (optional): This part is optional. If you decide to complete this part, you will be asked to complete a heartbeat perception task using an iPhone app. This should take around 30 minutes. During this task, you will be asked to count the heartbeats you can feel within your body, as well as decide whether a series of beeps are in time with your heartbeat or not. You will also be asked to estimate how many seconds have passed between two beeps (without using a stopwatch or clock).
All scores will be recorded using an anonymous identifying number only. All data will be kept in a secure, password protected folder. The results may be published later in an academic journal or disseminated at academic conferences. However, this will only include information of the overall results, rather than individual results, and there is no risk that you could be identified by name. You will be allowed to withdraw from the study at any point if you wish, even after you have given your consent. More detailed information about withdrawing from the study can be found in the debrief sheet at the end of the experiment.
If you would like to withdraw before the end, please contact a member of the research team using the details at the bottom of this page. If you do not decide to withdraw, your personal data (such as your consent form or contact information) will be stored for a maximum of five years, at which point they will be deleted. Data which are not linked to your personal information (such as scores on questionnaires) will be indefinitely stored online on the Open Science Framework.
What are the risks of taking part? There are no risks associated with taking part in the study. However, as some of the questions involve issues related to mental health, we have included the details of support services that you can contact at the end of the study in case you need someone to talk to.
What are the benefits of taking part? There are no direct benefits to taking part in the study. However, you will be contributing to research that helps us understand more about mental health which we hope will lead to finding ways to improve it. As a token of our appreciation, we are entering all schools involved in the project into a prize draw to win one of five £50 book vouchers, and all pupils under 18 who take part into a prize draw to win one of 20 £10 book vouchers. All participants 18 or over will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Amazon voucher.
Researchers involved:
Melissa Barker: Royal Holloway, University of London (Melissa.Barker.2018@live.rhul.ac.uk)
Dr Rebecca Brewer (Principal Investigator): Royal Holloway, University of London (Rebecca.Brewer@rhul.ac.uk)
Dr Jenny Murphy (Principal Investigator): Royal Holloway, University of London (Jennifer.murphy@rhul.ac.uk)
Professor Essi Viding: University College London (e.viding@ucl.ac.uk)
Professor Geoff Bird: University of Oxford (geoff.bird@psy.ox.ac.uk)
data protection, funding and ethical clearance
Royal Holloway, University of London is the sponsor for this study and is based in the UK. We will be using information from you in order to undertake this study and will act as the data controller for this study. This means that we are responsible for looking after your information and using it properly. Any data you provide during the completion of the study will be stored securely on local servers. Royal Holloway is designated as a public authority and in accordance with the Royal Holloway and Bedford New College Act 1985 and the Statutes which govern the College, we conduct research for the public benefit and in the public interest. Royal Holloway has put in place appropriate technical and organisational security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in any unauthorised way or altered or disclosed. Royal Holloway has also put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where legally required to do so. To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personally-identifiable information possible (i.e., the email address you provide us). The lead researcher will keep your contact details confidential and will use this information only as required (i.e., to provide a summary of the study results if requested and/or for the prize draw). The lead researcher will keep information about you and data gathered from the study for 5 years after the study has finished. Certain individuals from RHUL may look at your research records to check the accuracy of the research study. If the study is published in a relevant peer-reviewed journal, the anonymised data may be made available to third parties. The people who analyse the information will not be able to identify you. You can find out more about your rights under the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 by visiting https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/more/governance-and-strategy/data-protection/ and if you wish to exercise your rights, please contact dataprotection@royalholloway.ac.ukPlease complete the consent form so that we know whether you agree to take part in this study.
This project is funded by the South East Network for Social Sciences (SeNSS). This study has been reviewed and approved by the College Ethics Committee at Royal Holloway, University of London. The members of the research team have been checked and cleared by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). If you are unhappy or have concerns about any aspect of the project, and do not wish to contact the research team, you can contact the Research Ethics Committee via email at ethics@rhul.ac.uk, or by phone at 01784 414930. The committee is entirely independent of the research and will respond to your concerns.