Help with our research into trauma

About the study

We are trying to understand more about trauma, experienced as a child and in adulthood, and its impact on mental health. Our long-term aim to help improve diagnosis, treatment and support for those who have experienced traumatic events.

Taking part

If you decide to take part, we will ask you to provide us with some basic information about yourself, your experiences of trauma, as a child and in adulthood, and your mental health, in order to help answer important research questions.

Answering questions about traumatic experiences in your past could cause you some distress.

There is no obligation to take part and you do not need to answer any questions that you find upsetting.

We also want to identify people who would be willing to be approached about taking part in future mental health research projects.

What will I have to do?

Taking part is voluntary: it’s up to you to choose if you want to sign up.

If you join us, you’ll be asked whether you would be willing to:

Provide us with your contact details (e.g. address, email address and phone number) and some personal information (e.g. date of birth, ethnic group and employment status).
Answer some questions about your experiences of trauma (as a child and in adulthood) and your mental health. This will take approximately 10-15 minutes.
Allow us to contact you in the future about other studies that you may want to take part in. There will be no obligation for you to take part in these future opportunities.
Allow us to contact you every 6-12 months, to invite you to provide more information about your mental and physical health and your lifestyle.
Allow us to share anonymous information with other researchers if they have scientific and ethical approval for the questions that they would like to answer.

We will use your answers to improve our understanding of trauma and mental health.

Support

Some people find it difficult or upsetting to answer questions about their past and unpleasant experiences they have had. Usually, any upset does not last very long. If you do get upset you can take a break or stop answering the questions altogether. Please visit our support page for information on organisations that you can call if you need some support.

Once you have joined, you can choose if you want to take part in any of the questionnaires, studies, or events that we tell you about when we get in touch with you.

Frequently asked questions

Who is doing the study?

This study is led by the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH). NCMH is a Welsh Government funded Research Centre, led by Cardiff, Swansea and Bangor Universities. It is being funded by Health and Care Research Wales, Welsh Government. The Director of the National Centre for Mental Health is Professor Jon Bisson.

How can I join the study?

You will have the opportunity to join the study once you have read through and understand the information.

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

We hope that learning more about trauma and mental health will lead to new ways of diagnosing, treating or even preventing mental illnesses. However, these remain long-term aims and you will not benefit directly from taking part in this study.

What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?

Participating in this study involves answering questions about your experiences of trauma (as a child and in adulthood). Answering questions about your past could cause you some distress. You do not need to answer any of these questions if doing so would be upsetting. Please visit the Support page for information on organisations that you can call if you need some support.

What will happen to my Personal Data?

Only the study team will have access to your data and only they will contact you directly.

All information collected during the course of the research will be kept strictly confidential. There are strict laws that safeguard your privacy at every stage. In accordance with the Data Protection Act (2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2018), your personal information will be kept confidential by assigning a unique study code to your data. Your name and identifying information will not be passed on to anyone.

Cardiff University is the Data Controller and is committed to respecting and protecting your personal data in accordance with your expectations and Data Protection legislation. Further information about Data Protection, including:

your rights
the legal basis under which Cardiff University processes your personal data for research
Cardiff University’s Data Protection Policy
how to contact the Cardiff University Data Protection Officer
how to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office

may be found on the Cardiff University website.

We will keep your personal data for 15 years following the end of the research project.

After 15 years, the research team will anonymise all the personal data it has collected from, or about, you in connection with this research project. Anonymised information may be published in support of the research project and/or retained indefinitely, where it is likely to have continuing value for research purposes.

What questions will I be asked now?

When you agree to take part and sign up, you will be asked to provide contact details and some other information about yourself such as your age and ethnic group. You will also be asked to answer some questions about your experiences of trauma (as a child and in adulthood) and your mental health.

How often will I be contacted?

We will contact you every 6-12 months, to ask you more questions about your experiences of trauma, your mental and general health and lifestyle. Sometimes we will ask for information that you haven’t given before. Sometimes we will ask you the same questions as before so that we can see how things have changed.

As well as this regular contact, the study team may contact you from time to time, to ask you to take part in new studies. You may be contacted because of something that you have told us about (for example, your age). These studies may be conducted by other research teams. We will give you more information about these studies including why the research is being carried out, what you might be asked to do and how to sign up. It is up to you to decide whether you want to take part in these new studies. It won’t affect your participation in the overall NCMH Trauma Study if you prefer not to get involved.

How long will it take?

First, you need to join the study. This involves reading this information and then consenting below. This should take about 5 minutes. Take as much time as you need to decide whether you wish to take part.

Once you have joined, you will be asked some questions. This should take about 10-15 minutes to finish. We know that we get the best data if you are able to complete these questions in one go, but if for some reason this isn’t possible then you can come back to the website later because you can save your answers once you have finished a set of questions.

Can I decline or withdraw from the study?

You do not have to take part in this study. If you do decide to take part you are still free to withdraw your consent to participate in the research project at any time, without giving a reason, even after signing the consent form.

It will not be possible to withdraw any anonymised data that has already been published or in some cases, where identifiers are irreversibly removed during the course of a research project, from the point at which it has been anonymised.

What happens when the study is finished?

This is a long-term study that will allow us to learn about trauma (experienced as a child and in adulthood) and its impact on mental health. The information you provide will be stored for use on a long term basis (at least 15 years).

You will not have any claim to any future commercial use of results from the study in which your data has been used. To make the best use of resources, we will share data (anonymised to exclude any personal details) with different groups of researchers from the NHS, universities and commercial companies, both within the UK and abroad. However, we would stress that those organisations will never obtain access to personal/ identifying information (for example, your name, address, date of birth).

Who has reviewed the study?

Ethical approval has been obtained from the National Research Ethics Service and NHS (Research and Development) permission has also been obtained

If you have further questions about the study, please contact the study team:

National Centre for Mental Health

Cardiff University

Hadyn Ellis Building,

Maindy Road, Cathays,

Cardiff

CF24 4HQ

Phone 029 20688401

Fax 029 20687100

Email info@ncmh.info

If you would like to discuss this study with someone independent of the study please contact:

Helen Richards on +44(0)29 2068 8484 or at dpmcndivisionmanager@cardiff.ac.uk.

You can also write to her at:

Helen Richards

Division Manager

Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences / Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics

Cardiff University School of Medicine

Hadyn Ellis Building

Maindy Road