Research: Cognitions, Grief, and Job Loss
Edition: 10 March 2021
Dear participant,
With this letter we want to inform you about a study that is being conducted by Janske van Eersel in collaboration with prof Toon Taris and prof Paul Boelen from Utrecht University.
Bachelor and master students of the department of clinical psychology of Utrecht University will also be part of the research team and support the recruitment of participants. They will write their thesis on different parts of the research results.
Do you have any questions after reading this information letter? Please feel free to contact us.
- What is the aim of the study?
This study looks at how people cope with job loss. There is evidence that in some people, job loss can lead to emotional problems similar to grieving after the death of a loved one.
In this study, we look at possible protective and risk factors to better understand why people sometimes get stuck in the grieving process after losing their job, and what can help them get out of it.
The study consist of:
- Nine different questionnaires, which can be completed online on a computer, tablet or phone. These questionnaires take an average of 18 minutes to complete.
- How will the study be conducted?
Please read this information letter carefully. If you decide to participate in the study, click on the link, then first start reading and filling out the consent form. After signing the consent form, you can complete the questionnaires.
- Advantages and disadvantages of participating in this research
Participating in this study does not have immediate advantages or disadvantages for you. A possible ‘disadvantage’ is that filling in the questionnaires takes time. The advantage may be that you become more aware of your own experiences in dealing with job loss.
An indirect ‘advantage’ of participating in this study is that you contribute to knowledge about grieving for job loss. This knowledge is valuable to improve the help for people who lose their jobs in the future.
- Are there risk and side effects?
The study was approved by the Ethical Review Board of the faculty of Social Sciences of Utrecht University. The committee has agreed that taking part in this research does not involve any risks for the participant other than those encountered in daily life.
- Participation in the study is voluntary.
You decide for yourself whether to participate in the study. Participation is voluntary. If you decide not to participate, you do not have to do anything else. You do not have to sign anything or say why you do not want to participate. If you do participate, you can change your mind at any time and quit without consequences.
In order to participate in this questionnaire study, you first give your consent at the beginning of the questionnaire under the heading ‘consent form’. Only after you have given your consent can you start answering the questions. If you answer no, you will automatically be forwarded to the end of the questionnaire and thanked for your interest.
- Exclusion criteria
People under 18 years of age, people over 67 years of age, or people with psychiatric disorders unfortunately cannot participate in this study.
- Will you be informed of the study results?
On the consent form – which you sign during the study – you can indicate whether you want to be kept informed about the progress of the study and the publication of the results.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to access individual results, as participation is anonymous and not traceable to you as a person.
- How will your data be processed?
This research meets the requirements for scientific research. This means that your data will be protected. Your answers will only be accessible to the members of the research team of this study.
All answers and results will be anonymized before they are processed in publications (e.g. any comments or remarks will be removed).
After publication, parts of the dataset are placed anonymously on a secure server at Utrecht University, so that other researchers can check the data analyses and further research on this topic can be conducted. The retention period for this anonymized dataset is ten years.
- Complaint procedure
If you have complaints about the research you can report this to the researcher, Janske van Eersel. If you prefer not to, you can contact the faculty complaint officer of Utrecht University, email: klachtenfunctionaris-fetcsocwet@uu.nl. For questions about privacy, please email: privacy@uu.nl.
- Further information
If you have any questions about this study please email info@janskevaneersel.nl
Kind regards, also on behalf of Toon Taris and Paul Boelen,
Janske van Eersel
PhD student | Teacher Utrecht University