We invite you to participate in a study to develop and deploy an innovative method in the form of a web application based on an interactive website to explore how adolescents and young adults adapt and (re)construct themselves 3 years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. This document provides you with information about the details of this project. By completing the following questionnaire, you agree to participate in this study. A complete copy of this form and a list of support resources will be sent to you by email.

Title of the study

La Covid et moi, 14-25. Développement d’un site web interactif pour évaluer la détresse psychologique et la croissance post-traumatique des jeunes canadien.nes

People in charge of the study
Principal Investigator:

Catherine Laurier, Professor
Faculty of Education, Department of Psychoeducation, Université de Sherbrooke

Co-Principal Investigator:

Katherine Pascuzzo, Professor
Faculty of Education, Department of Psychoeducation, Université de Sherbrooke

Co-researcher and co-researchers:

Miguel Terradas Carrandi, Professor
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of Psychology, Université de Sherbrooke

Heather Lawford, Professor
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology, Bishops University

Anne-Marie Tougas, Professor
Faculty of Education, Department of Psychoeducation, Université de Sherbrooke

Danyka Therriault, Professor
Faculty of Education, Department of Psychoeducation, Université de Sherbrooke

Funding of the study
This study is funded by the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers Research Fund – Innovative Research Approaches in the Context of Pandemic 2021.

Objectives of the study
The objectives of this study are to: 1) develop an interactive website and an advanced decision tree necessary to allow greater interaction with participants and foster their effective engagement in the choice of measures administered, 2) better understand the posttraumatic processes of Canadian youth aged 14 to 25 confronted with a potentially traumatic event, such as COVID-19, by exploring variations that may reflect the influence of certain social inequalities.

Description of participation
Every two weeks for one year, you will be invited to record very short videos on this website. These videos are one to two minutes long and are recorded directly on the website application you are currently using. You can also use the written form if you don’t want to film yourself. After recording the video or writing a few lines, you will also be asked to answer a short questionnaire (approximately 5 minutes, every two weeks).

Depending on your answers to the short questionnaire, the interactive website will suggest a dimension to be evaluated by a more complete questionnaire (5-10 minutes long every two weeks).  However, you will also have the chance to pick a questionnaire from another dimension. The proposed dimensions are: stress or anxiety, depression, social relationships and resilience.

As compensation, the first 150 people to answer the questionnaires at least once following the registration process will receive a $10 Interac e-transfer.  Also, each participation will allow you to have an entry in one draw of two cellphones (Iphone 14) scheduled after one year. The winners will be contacted directly. Winners’ names will be kept private to maintain participant privacy. You will also be invited to attend two online conferences on topics that interest you after 6 months and 1 year.

Benefits that may result from your participation

Your participation in this research can be an opportunity for you to share what you are experiencing, thinking and feeling during a year of your life. In addition, you will have the opportunity to keep and view the videos you record as a memento of your year.

We believe that your answers to our questions will help us to better understand how teenagers and young adults deal with stressful situations and to develop profiles of young people who are dealing with similar situations. At the end of the study, if you wish, we will send you a summary of the results and the main conclusions of our study.

Possible drawbacks and risks of participation
There should be no significant inconvenience to you for participating, other than taking about 15 minutes every two weeks to record a video or write a text and answer some questions.

However, you may find that the questions asked lead you to address some issues that you are experiencing or have experienced that are difficult for you. If this is the case, you are free to refuse to answer any question without having to justify yourself or suffer any consequences. You will also find phone numbers for various support organizations and resources at the end of the questionnaire and on the website. Do not hesitate to contact them if you need to talk or be listened to. You can also contact the project team whose contact information is available on the website and which you will receive with a copy of this form by email.

Voluntary participation and withdrawal option
Your participation in this study is voluntary. You are therefore free to refuse to participate. You can also withdraw from this project at any time: by deleting the application or by not returning to the website. The videos and texts already submitted will be kept in the databases and will be used for analysis, unless you ask us to delete them.

Privacy, sharing, monitoring and publications
We will assign you a code number and only the research and website development team will have access to the correspondence list. During your participation in this project, the research team will collect and record in a research file the answers and other information you provide. Only information that is necessary for the proper conduct of the study will be collected. This may include the following information (to reach you and send you the online questionnaire): email address and phone number. No other personal information is requested or collected. The IP address of your computer, cell phone or tablet will not be included in the data.

Access to and retrieval of the data will only be permitted to researchers and research assistants who have signed a confidentiality agreement. Similarly, the web development company has entered in a formal agreement with the researcher and funder, committing to confidentiality and ensuring the security of the data. A protocol for restricting access has been established and ensures the reliability of the databases and hosting. Data cannot be lost and data leakage will be avoided thanks to a Virtual Private Server (VPS). The server makes daily backups. Data will also be stored on a secure, password-protected server at the Université de Sherbrooke and on an external device kept at the principal investigator’s office and password-protected. The videos and texts that you provide every two weeks will be used to analyze their content as well as to automatically analyze your facial emotions using a specialized software. In all analysis, confidentiality will be assured and every precaution will be taken to preserve your anonymity.

It is important for you to know that if you disclose a situation that compromises your safety for your life (suicide risk) or that of another person, the research team will have to break confidentiality and will contact the parent or the trustworthy adult you identified when you registered and the appropriate authorities (e.g. suicide-action) so that you can receive help.

Dissemination of research results may take place at conferences or through the publication of articles in scientific journals. Under no circumstances will the dissemination of the results allow the identification of the individuals who participated in the research. Thus, no  names or personal characteristic that could identify a person who participated in the research will be revealed during the dissemination of the results, either during communications at conferences or through the publication of articles.

The researchers anticipate that the videos and data collected may be combined with other projects for comparison with other research samples. It is also possible that the data will be used by students as part of their thesis work. Thus, the use of the data collected may serve future research purposes. Secondary use of this data will only be done with your consent.

The data collected will be kept for 7 years after the results are published and then destroyed.

We know that the videos you record or the texts you write may be a way to express your distress. However, it is expected that if you need to talk to someone quickly, you will contact us via the “I’d like to talk to someone” section as the video and text are not a substitute for actually asking for help.

Contact information
If you have any questions or problems related to the study, you can contact the research assistant by email:
[email protected]

You can also contact the principal investigators by email:
Catherine Laurier: [email protected]
Katherine Pascuzzo: [email protected]

Research Ethics Board Approval
The Research Ethics Committee – Education and Social Sciences of the Université de Sherbrooke has approved this study and will monitor it. If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this study or if you have any comments to make, you can contact this committee at 819-821-8000 ext. 62644 (or toll free at 1 800-267-8337) or at [email protected].

Consent

By clicking on the “I agree” button, I certify to:

• Have read the information and consent form;
• Voluntarily and freely consent to participate in this study.

Resource List

Tel-Jeune (1-800-263-2266)

Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868)

SOS Suicide/Suicide Action (1-866-APPELLE)

Sexual Violence Helpline (1-888-933-9007)

Gambling – Help and referral (1-866-SOS-JEUX)

Drugs – Help and Referral (1-800-265-2626)

Mental Health Support (1-866-585-0445)

Center for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence (CPRMV)  (514 687-7141)

Native Youth Crisis Hotline (1-877-209-1266)

Info-social service (811)

SOS Violence conjugale (1-800-363-9010)