Purpose. You are invited to participate in a research study (Self-Help Web sites for Eating Disorders) being conducted by Dr. Connie Varnhagen and Michelle Caughell of the Department of Psychology, University of Alberta. This study examines among users of self-help Web sites for eating disorders, perceptions and opinions of the site. There are two objectives to the study. First, we are interested in who is using the self-help Web sites on eating disorders (e.g., individuals with an eating disorder, friends or family members of an individual with an eating disorder, or professionals). Second, we are interested in how these self-help Web sites are helpful to the individuals using them and how these factors relate to social support off-line.

Your participation. Your participation involves first filling out a questionnaire, which should take about 15 minutes to complete. You will receive the opportunity to have the results of the study sent to you via e-mail.

Your rights. Your decision to participate in this study is entirely voluntary and you may decide at any time to withdraw from the study. Your decision to discontinue will not affect your status or access to services from this Web site on eating disorders. If you choose to participate, you may skip any items you do not wish to answer. If you do not wish to submit your responses, simply click the browser page closed. Should you wish to withdraw your responses after submitting them, please e-mail Dr. Connie Varnhagen (varn@ualberta.ca) with the approximate time and date that you completed the questionnaire and we will remove your responses from the study.

Responses made by individual participants on the questionnaire will remain confidential, and your name will not appear on the questionnaire or be associated with your responses in any way. Only researchers associated with the project will have access to the questionnaires. A summary of the results will be posted on this discussion group in summer, 2005, and you may obtain a full copy of the report by e-mailing Dr. Connie Varnhagen (varn@ualberta.ca) in June 2005. The results of this study may be presented at scholarly conferences, published in professional journals, or presented in class lectures. No individual results will be released; only grouped (aggregate) data will be presented. The data will be securely stored by Connie Varnhagen for a minimum of five years.

Benefits and risks. This research can potentially contribute to the advancement of our understanding of how self-help Web sites are helpful to the individuals visiting them. The questionnaire does address some sensitive issues and you may find some of the questions upsetting. Your safety is more important to us than our research. Please be sure you are safe while completing the questionnaire and please do not answer any questions that upset you. If we discover that the questionnaire does have any risk to participants, we will post the risk on this discussion and remove the link to the questionnaire.

The following Web site provides links and phone numbers to hotlines that offer emotional support:
http://www.suicideinfo.ca/csp/go.aspx?tabid=40

Contact information. If you have any questions or comments on the study, or if you wish a clarification of rights as a research participant, you can contact Dr. Connie Varnhagen or Dr. Thomas Johnson at the phone number or address below. Please print out this page for reference.

Signatures. Please click below to indicate that you have read and understood the nature and purpose of the study. Your selection of the "Begin Survey" button indicates your willingness to participate in this study.

BEGIN