Coping Study

Department of Psychology

University of Waterloo


Information-Consent Section

This study is being conducted by Lee Peters, a Clinical Psychology PhD student at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Oakman of the Department of Psychology (519-888-4567, ext. 3659). Dr. Oakman and Lee Peters are members of the University of Waterloo Human Sexuality Lab http://www.psychology.uwaterloo.ca/uwsexlab/.

We are interested in learning more about how people deal with stressful situations. In particular, we are interested in how individuals use sexual activity as a coping strategy. In participating in this study, you will be asked to complete several questionnaires about how you deal with stressful situations. A few of these questions will ask about sexual behaviours, and may cause some people to feel uncomfortable. Please keep in mind that you are free to skip any questions you prefer not to answer. You may discontinue the study at any point; if you wish to withdraw, simply discontinue responding to the questions and click the button on your internet browser.

Some people may become slightly distressed regarding the personal, sexual nature of the questions; please keep in mind that you are free to skip any questions you prefer not to answer and that you are free to withdraw at any time. If you wish to withdraw, simply discontinue responding to the questions and click the button on your internet browser. All of your responses will be completely confidential and will only be seen by our research team. We are not interested in examining the responses of individual participants one-at-a-time, but rather wish to look at the overall responses of large groups of people. Your anonymity will be protected because individual participants will not be identified in any reports of the findings. Participation in this study should take approximately a half-hour. This study has been reviewed and has received ethics clearance from the Office of Research at the University of Waterloo (Needles Hall, Room 3007). You are free to contact Dr. Susan Sykes at this office at (519) 888-4567 ext. 6005 if you have any concerns or questions about your participation in this study. You are also free to contact Lee Peters (uwhslab@watarts.uwaterloo.ca / 519-888-4567, ext. 2575) or Dr. Jonathan Oakman (519-888-4567, ext. 3659) should you wish to discuss any aspect of the study or its impact on you.

Consent Section

I agree to participate in this study being conducted by Lee Peters under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Oakman of the Psychology Department of the University of Waterloo. I have made this decision based on the information I have read in the information-consent form. As a participant in the study, I realize I will be asked to complete questionnaires about my coping stratedies. I understand that I may withdraw this permission at any time and that any data I provide will be destroyed at my request. I understand that all information I provide will be held in confidence and that I will not be identified in any way in the final report. I also understand that this project has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the Office of Research Ethics at the University of Waterloo and that I may contact this office if I have any concerns or questions about my involvement in this study. Note: Once you have submitted your responses, the information will go to a secure server to which only the researchers have access. The data collected from participants in this study will be erased after 7 years. I have read the information provided and I agree to participate in this study