How do individuals perceive navigating chronic pain in romantic relationships?

What is the purpose of the project?  
Chronic pain, defined as persistent or ongoing pain lasting three or more months is experienced by many young adults around the world. One area of life that may be affected is dating and romantic relationships. This study aims to investigate perceptions of how living with chronic pain may affect the navigation of romantic relationships in young adults. 

Who can take part in this project? 
You must be a young adult (aged 18-25 years) and have a device that can connect to the Internet to take part in this research. Although we would like to hear from those with lived experience of chronic pain, you can still take part if you do not live with chronic pain. We are interested in the wider societal perceptions of chronic pain and how it may affect romantic relationships.

Do I have to take part?
Participation in this study is completely voluntary. Before you decide, you can read this information sheet for more information and ask any questions you may have. If you agree to take part, you will be asked to indicate that you agree to some consent statements. However, if at any time you decide you no longer wish to take part you can withdraw your participation.

What would taking part involve? 
You will be asked to complete an online survey that should take around 15-20  minutes to complete. As part of this survey we will ask you some questions about you. Next, you will be invited to complete a short writing task where you will be asked to write a story in response to a scenario. After this, there will be further questions relating to this task before the survey end. At the end of this survey, you will be asked if you want to take part in further email interview research, which will involve answering further questions about your story. This is completely optional, and you do not have to provide any information you do not want to. You can also change your mind about participating in the email interview later on if you no longer wish to take part.

What are the possible benefits of taking part?
There are no specific benefits of taking part in the project. However, the information that you and other participants provide in this project will help us to better understand people’s thoughts in relation to chronic pain and relationships. 

 

What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part? 

We understand that the sensitive nature of the subject matter (chronic pain) may be potentially upsetting to you, depending on your past experiences. If there are any questions or parts of the task that you do not want to answer or complete, you can choose to move on or simply close your browser and leave the study. 

Who will have access to the information that I provide? 
Your responses to the survey will be anonymous and will be kept separate from any personal details we have for you (such as your email address) unless you wish to take part in the study follow up email interview which we will describe at the end of this study.  If you wish to take part in the email interview we will share your story with you via email, we will do this by generating a random and unique code that links your responses. We will not match your response with your email address until you have given consent for the follow-up study. Only the research team (and University governance staff where appropriate) will have access to information that you provide, and this information will be treated as confidential.

You should not include any personal information, such as your address, date of birth or phone number etc. in the written portions of this survey.

What will happen to the data collected and results of the project? 
We will treat all information that you provide as confidential and store it securely at the University of Bath on a password-protected file on the University’s secure server (X Drive). Storage of data will be done in accordance with current UK data protection legislation. Recorded data will be stored securely and confidentially in the University archives for a minimum of 10 years. Your name or any other identifying information will not be kept with the data from the survey or disclosed in any presentation or publication of the research. However, quotations from your answers may be used. After the project has finished, we can provide you with a summary of the project results if you would like. This summary will not include any identifiable information and will only show the overall findings of the project. You will need to provide your email address in a second survey, after the main survey has been completed, which will be stored securely until the project end. 

Once this project is completed, other researchers at the University of Bath may conduct related research projects which would benefit from using the data that you provide. Further use of your data will only occur with your consent and only as part of projects which are given a favourable opinion by the University of Bath. Data will continue to be stored in accordance with current UK data protection legislation. Your name or any other identifying information will not be kept with the data from the survey or disclosed in any presentation or publication of the research. However, quotations from your answers may be used. 

Who has reviewed the project?
This project has been given a favourable ethics opinion by the University of Bath, Biomedical Sciences Research Ethics Committee [reference 10209-12369].

How can I withdraw from the project?
Whilst completing the study, you can withdraw at any time and without having to give a reason by closing the survey window in your browser. After you have submitted your response at the end of the survey, it will not be possible to withdraw your data as it will be fully anonymous. Your individual results will not be identifiable in any presentation or publication. 

University of Bath privacy notice
The University of Bath privacy notice can be found here: https://www.bath.ac.uk/corporate-information/university-of-bath-privacy-notice-for-research-participants/. 

What happens if there is a problem?
If you have a concern about any aspect of the project, you should ask to speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer any questions. If they are unable to resolve your concern or you wish to make a complaint regarding the project, please contact the Research Governance and Compliance Team at research-ethics@bath.ac.uk. 

Are you interested?
Thank you for your interest in this project. Please contact the researchers if you would like more information or wish to take part.

Name of Researcher: Dr Abbie Jordan
Contact details of Researcher: painstories@bath.ac.uk

Name of Co-investigator: Daisy Borg
Contact details of Co-investigator: db2091@bath.ac.uk