ABOUT THE STUDY
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The main aim of this study is to better understand the experience of parenting an adolescent at risk of suicide in order to better support parents through this process. We are interested in hearing about how the suicidal behaviour affected you and your family. We would also like to know what was helpful or unhelpful in coping with the experience. We would also like to hear what advice you would give other parents in a similar situation.
Parent Participant Information
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?​
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We are interested in hearing from parents who have cared for an adolescent who was suicidal within the last 10 years. The suicidal behaviour (e.g., attempting suicide or talking about suicide) must have occurred when the child was under the age of 18. Because we are interested in how people have managed this situation in the past, we will not be interviewing parents who are in a care-giving role for a teenager who is currently engaging in suicidal behaviour. If you meet these criteria, then you are invited to take part in this study.
WHAT DOES IT INVOLVE?​
I will conduct the interviews face-to-face. Each interview will be audio taped (with your consent). The tapes will later be transcribed (by either myself or an approved Transcriptionist). You may stop the interview or ask to have the audiotape switched off at any time and do not have to answer all of the questions.
CONFIDENTIALITY
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Your decision to participate in this research (or not) and all personal information collected from you will remain confidential to the researchers. Our research focuses on your experience of parenting an adolescent at risk of suicide, but we appreciate that talking to us about that may involve disclosure of information about your child and other members of your family.
RISKS OF ​PARTICIPATING
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We hope that talking about your experiences will be helpful to you and to others. However, given the sensitive nature of this research it is possible that you may experience some distress. In the event that talking about the experience is very distressing for you, you will be able to discuss this with me and I can assist you to seek further support should you want it.
The interviews will be approximately 60-90 minutes long and we will do these at a time and place to suit you. We can provide a private room on the University of Auckland City or Tamaki campuses, or meet you at a location of your convenience.
There will also be an option to take part in a second interview between one week and two months after the first. This is to allow a chance to reflect on any thoughts you have had about the first interview, or say things that may not have come to mind during the initial interview.
Transcripts will be made available to you upon request. You will have an option to request these on the consent form, or in writing to myself. If you would like to check and edit the transcript content, then the request must be made within two weeks following your participation. You have the right to change the transcript within a two week period following its receipt.
BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING​
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We hope that this research will be useful to parents in a similar situation to what you experienced, and also to clinicians working with such parents. The results of this study will be disseminated to appropriate parenting and community networks, and mental health clinicians. A list of recommendations will be created for clinicians working with families. It is hoped that this research will support clinicians to provide a better service to parents of adolescents at risk of suicide. As such, your participation may help to lessen the difficulties of parents going through experiences similar to your own.
You are welcome to a summary of the research findings
You will also be offered a $30 petrol voucher in order to cover transport costs.
The information will be subject to limitations on confidentiality explained below. Transcriptions of interviews will be de-identified (i.e., stored using a code number and not your name). Your name will only appear on the consent form, which will be stored separately from transcriptions. All information collected during this research will be stored in a locked filing cabinet and in password-protected electronic files for six years following publication of research findings. It will only be accessible to the researchers. After six years, all data will be destroyed (paper records will be shredded and electronic files will be permanently deleted).
Research findings will be published in the form of research reports and may be published in academic journals and presented at international conferences. Identifying information will be changed, and a pseudonym given to any of your data used in publications arising from this research. This means that your identity will never be made public.
WITHDRAWAL ​
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You are free to withdraw from the project at any time without giving reasons. You may also withdraw any data related to you until two weeks after participation, or up to two weeks after receipt of your transcript (should you request this). In this case please contact a member of the research team, and any electronic files and/or documents related to you would be deleted and/or shredded.
Further support could include a referral to counselling or mental health services. You are also welcome to pause or discontinue the interview at any point.
If you anticipate that taking part in this research could cause significant distress, please think carefully about the decision to participate.
If you tell us about anything that makes us concerned about the safety of yourself or anyone else, we would be obliged to report this to a relevant authority or service.
THANK YOU
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Thank you for making the time to read about, and consider taking part in this study.
Ethics Concerns
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For any queries regarding ethical concerns you may contact the Chair, The University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee, The University of Auckland, Research Office, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142.
Telephone 09 373-7599 ext. 83711.
Email: ro-ethics@auckland.ac.nz
APPROVED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND HUMAN PARTICIPANTS ETHICS COMMITTEE ON 11/12/2015 for 3 years, Reference Number: 016236.
