PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET

Title of Project: Well-being and social functioning of video game players

Name of Investigators:

Szymon Olejarnik (Horizon CDT, University of Nottingham, & Institute of Artificial Intelligence, De Montfort University)

Daniela Romano (Institute of Artificial Intelligence, De Montfort University)

Aislinn Bergin (Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham)

Invitation paragraph

We are inviting you to take part in our research study. Before you decide to take part, you must understand why we are conducting this research and what your role will be.

Please read through this information sheet, and discuss it with your parents if you are of age below 16 years old. If something is not clear, you can ask the experimenter about it, or email Szymon at szymon.olejarnik@nottingham.ac.uk. Please take as much time as you need to. Thank you for reading.

What is the study about?

This study is part of a PhD research that looks at the well-being and social functioning of video game players.

What does the study involve?

Each study will be described; for example, for the longitudinal study, the description is below.

This is a longitudinal study, so you will be asked to fill out a questionnaire every 3 months for a total of 4 times. In the questionnaire, we will ask you to tell us about your favourite video games, your well-being, and your social habits. Each questionnaire should take around 10-15 minutes to fill. For each questionnaire after the first, you will be sent a reminder email.

Why have I been chosen?

You volunteered to take part in the study, and you play video games. You are at least 13 years old and have your parents’ guardian permission, or you are aged 16 and above.

Do I have to take part?

It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. If you want to take part, you will have to consent. If you are 16 years old and above, you can provide consent yourself. If you are 13 to 15 years old, your parent/legal guardian will have to provide consent for you.

I am interested in taking part; what do I do next?

If you want to participate, please click on the arrow at the bottom of the screen. This will take you to the consent form, where you can tick boxes to indicate your consent to participate.

What if I agree to take part and then change my mind?

You are free to leave the study at any time. You can close the survey and your data will not be recorded.

What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?

There are no risks to taking part in this study.

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

This study will help us better understand the well-being and socialisation of video game players. It is hoped that the outcomes from this study in aggregated form will be published.

What if something goes wrong? / Who can I complain to?

If you would like to complain about anything to do with this study, you should first speak to Prof Daniela Romano via email: daniela.romano@dmu.ac.uk, Prof Raghu Raghavan rraghavan@dmu.ac.uk.

If you are not happy with the response provided by Prof Romano or Prof Raghu Raghavan, you should contact the Faculty Research Ethics Committee via email: ethics.CEM@dmu.ac.uk.

Will my taking part in this study be kept confidential?

Any data collected data will be pseudonymised (it will not be possible to identify who you are).

The university's guidelines for data collection and storage require that your data be stored securely for a period of 5 years.  This means that from the moment you finish the study, we will store your data in a secure database (encrypted, password-protected) for 5 years.

Members of the Faculty Human Research Ethics Committee may request access to your data to ensure the study has been carried out in accordance with to the ethical approval.

What will happen to the results of the research study?

The pseudonymised data will be used in aggregated form for a research publication, a presentation, and a doctoral thesis.

Who has reviewed the study?

This study has been reviewed and approved by De Montfort University, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media Research Ethics Committee.

Who has funded the study?

This study is supported by the Engineering and Physical Research Council Grant number RS09DD and the external partner Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust.

Contact for Further Information

For any further questions, you can contact the lead investigator:

Lead Investigator: Prof Daniela Romano

daniela.romano@dmu.ac.uk

Thank you for taking the time to read this.