Study Title Experiences of Stigma and Outcomes in those who are Sexually Attracted to Children

Principal Investigator:

Michael Seto, PhD.

Director, Forensic Research Unit,

University of Ottawa’s Institute of Mental Health at The Royal,

(613) 345 1461

Michael.Seto@theroyal.ca

 Co-Investigator:

Martin Lalumière, PhD.

Professor, Department of Psychology

University of Ottawa

Martin.Lalumiere@uottawa.ca

 Study Coordinator and Point of Contact

Kailey Roche, MSc.

PhD Student, Forensic Research Unit

The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group

kaileyroche@protonmail.com

REB Number: 2022006

 

INTRODUCTION

You are being invited to participate in a research study. You are eligible to participate in this study if you are age 18 or older and if you have a sexual attraction to children up to 14 years old. As the survey is in English, you should also be confident in your ability to understand the English language. Taking part in this study is voluntary, and there is no financial compensation for completing this study.

This consent form provides you with information to help you make an informed choice. Please read this document carefully and ask any questions you may have.  All your questions should be answered to your satisfaction before you decide whether to participate in this research study. Please take your time in making your decision.

IS THERE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

There are no conflicts of interest to declare related to this study.

WHY IS THIS STUDY BEING DONE?

Those who are sexually attracted to children are highly stigmatized by society. The goal of this study is to better understand stigma and its impact on those who are sexually attracted to children.

HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL TAKE PART IN THIS STUDY?

It is anticipated that about 350 people will take part in this study.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING THIS STUDY?

The aim of this study is to better understand stigma and its impact on those who are sexually attracted to children. To achieve this, you will be provided with a survey covering multiple topics:

• Age/gender attraction
• Stigma
• Mental health, including suicidality
• Social functioning
• Attitudes about adult/child contact
• Access to mental health care (both generally and for navigating sexual attraction)
• Social support and quality of support (online and offline)
• Identity.  

We will NOT ask about previous or current sexual behaviour.

We estimate that the survey will take about 45 minutes to complete.  Your participation in this survey is voluntary, and you may choose not to take part, or to skip questions you do not wish to answer. If you wish to exit the survey and remove your responses, please select the “Leave survey and delete data” button which is present on each page. As responses are anonymous, we will not be able to remove your responses from consideration if you do not click this button.

The results of the study should be known in about one year (May 2023). 

CAN PARTICIPANTS CHOOSE TO LEAVE THE STUDY?

You can choose to end your participation in this research (called withdrawal) at any time without having to provide a reason. In order to withdraw, please click on the “Leave survey and delete data” button which is present on each survey page. As responses are anonymous, we will not be able to remove your responses from consideration if you do not click this button.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS AND BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING IN THIS STUDY?

Your participation in this study will contribute to the growing literature on those with sexual attraction to children, stigma, mental health, and well-being.

Some of the questions asked in this survey are of a sensitive nature, such as the questions about mental health and suicidality. Therefore, there is some emotional risk associated with this survey; however, you are not obligated to answer these questions, and may skip them.

There is also some social risk associated with taking this survey, due to the stigma associated with being identified as a person who is sexually attracted to children. Considering this, we have made efforts to safeguard your anonymity, and encourage you to take these further precautions:

• Complete the survey in a private area where you feel safe not being interrupted
• Do not include identifying information in the open-ended questions.

 HOW WILL PARTICIPANT INFORMATION BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL?

If you decide to participate in this study, the research team will only collect the information they need for this study.

This study is confidential and anonymous. No information that discloses your identity will be collected. As stated above, if you would like to withdraw from the survey, you must select the “Leave and delete data” button presented on each page of the survey. We will not be able to remove your data otherwise as there is no way to connect you to your data. Research records may be accessed by Royal Ottawa Health Care Group Research Ethics Board in order to ensure continuing ethics compliance.

Your privacy is protected by the server at www.soscisurvey.de (no storage of IP addresses; use of SSL encryption with a signed certificate; server is secured against unauthorized access according to common standards; access to the server is SSH-encrypted; the questionnaires do not use any cookies). The data you provide is securely held on a server in Germany. There is very little risk associated with storing data in an outside server in Germany and it is protected by the highest level of encryption available (TLS 1.2). In fact, “in an international comparison, Germany offers a very high level of data protection - both with regard to the obligations of companies as well as with regard to governmental/agency access and interference” (see https://www.soscisurvey.de/en/privacy). Further, the data are subject to legal regulations such as the Federal Data Protection Act, and the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

After data collection has been completed, the data will be downloaded and converted to a password protected dataset. This dataset will be kept on a password protected computer and stored on a secure server at The Royal Health Care Group.  Subsequently, the data will be deleted from the SoSci server. Data will be kept for ten years. Only those belonging to the research team will have access to this data. The Royal Ottawa Health Care Group Research Ethics Board may also access this data if needed.

This research study is collecting information on race and ethnicity as well as other characteristics of individuals because these characteristics may be related to participants’ experiences. Providing information on your race or ethnic origin is voluntary.

After data analysis, a summary of aggregated results will be posted on various forums for those with sexual attraction to children. Further, aggregated results may be published and/or presented at conferences.

If the results of this study are published, you will remain anonymous and confidential. It is expected that the information collected during this study will be posted on various forums for those with sexual attraction to children. Further, results may be published and/or presented at conferences.

ARE STUDY PARTICIPANTS PAID TO BE IN THIS STUDY?

You will not be paid for taking part in this study.

WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS OF PARTICIPANTS IN A RESEARCH STUDY?

 You have the right to be informed of the results of this study once the entire study is complete. If you would like to be informed of the results of this study, please contact the research team. Please remember that if you want to remain anonymous, you should contact Kailey or the Research Ethics Board.

You may also contact Kailey through Twitter (@KaileyRoche). If you choose to contact the researchers or the Research Ethics Board using your real identity, we will be aware of your potential participation in the study, but we will not be able to connect you to your individual responses.

Your rights to privacy are legally protected by federal and provincial laws that require safeguards to ensure that your privacy is respected.

 By signing this form, you do not give up any of your legal rights against researchers or involved institutions for compensation, nor does this form relieve the researchers or their agents of their legal and professional responsibilities.

WHOM DO PARTICIPANTS CONTACT FOR QUESTIONS?

If you have questions about taking part in this study, please contact Kailey Roche at kailey.roche@theroyal.ca

This study has been reviewed and approved by the Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research REB as study #2022006. If you have any ethical concerns about the study, or the way it is conducted, please contact the REB office: kristi.wilde@theroyal.ca

Study Title:  Experiences of Stigma and Outcomes in those who are Sexually Attracted to Children