Informed Consent
We cordially invite you to participate in a scientific study that investigates the dynamics of social relations and mental wellbeing. To participate, you must be over 18 years old and have access to a smartphone. Participation is voluntary, and all answers will be treated with complete confidentiality. You can choose to end your participation at any point without giving a reason for doing so. However, the data that have already been collected cannot be deleted.
The study consists of surveys that will be completed in the Ethica (Avicenna) app. First, you will complete this questionnaire and then a pre-survey that takes about 15 minutes to fill out in total. The day after filling out the pre-survey, you will start to receive notifications that link to a short questionnaire in the evening every day for 120 days. During the 120 day period, the questionnaire is open from 21 – 04 o´clock and takes 1 – 3 minutes to fill out. After the 120 days, you will receive a post-survey. At this stage, you will have the option to provide us with your email address to receive your feedback profile. You will also have the option to participate in a follow-up study to give us feedback on your profile. If you participate for over 85% of the data collection (100 days of filled questionnaires), you will also receive a 25-euro gift card to R-Kioski (where it can be used, among other things, to buy other gift cards for your specific interest). If you drop out of the study before the end of 120 days, you may still receive a limited personal profile based on the data that you have given up until that time. If you forget or miss to fill out the daily questionnaire for some reason, it is no problem and you can continue answering them the next day.
If you are in an intimate relationship, you will be asked questions about your relationship and questions related to mental wellbeing, such as feelings of loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Lastly, you will answer some questions on behavior, such as sleep quality and amount of exercise. If you´re relationship ends before completing the study, we kindly ask you to terminate your participation in the study.
If you are single, you will be asked questions about your social relations and your perception of them. You will also be asked questions related to mental wellbeing, such as feelings of loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Lastly, you will answer some questions on behavior, such as sleep quality and amount of exercise. If you start an intimate relationship during participation, that does not affect participation in the study and you can continue answering the daily surveys.
For you to receive your feedback profile at the end of the study, you need to give an email address that will be connected to your personal data. This address does not have to be the same that you used to register to Avicenna. Along with getting your data sent to you, there will be a questionnaire available on the Avicenna app, this questionnaire will ask you questions about your experience of the study and the data that you received. After completing this questionnaire, you can remove the Avicenna app and the study is completed.
Your data will be stored on the Avicenna research app during the study. Your personal data will be handled only by the study’s main researchers (Jeremia Sjöblom and Martin Lagerström) and will be treated with complete confidentiality. As soon as it is no longer necessary to connect your personal data to your email, we will make the data pseudonymous by deleting your email information. After completion of the study, your data will be deleted from the Avicenna research app, and the research material will then be stored on a closed server at Åbo Akademi University. At the end of the study, the research material is archived at Åbo Akademi University. Pseudonymized research material may also be made openly available through an online repository.
For more information, please read the privacy notice of the study.
Privacy notice
ÅBO AKADEMI UNIVERSITY
www.abo.fi
PRIVACY NOTICE
According to the EU General Data Protection Regulation GDPR (EU 679/2016), Art. 13-14
The notice concerns:
Scientific research
The Finnish Interpersonal relationship project
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Data controller
Åbo Akademi University
Tuomiokirkontori 3
20500 Turku
Finland
Åbo Akademi University is controller for the personal data collected and processed in the university’s activities – in teaching, guidance, research, administration, and cooperation, internally and externally.
Responsible unit for the processing that is described in this document:
Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology
Contact person: Jeremia Sjöblom, Psychology, jeremia.sjoblom@abo.fi, 0445120399
Data Protection Officer at Åbo Akademi University: dataskydd@abo.fi, +358 2 215 31 (switchboard)
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Why do we treat your personal data?
Participation is voluntary and pseudonymized. To enable you to have access to your own data and the opportunity to participate in follow-up, we will ask for your email address near the end of the study. It will be stored separately from the rest of your data and will be deleted once we have sent your data to you at the end of the study.
According to GDPR there must always be a legal basis for processing personal data. The legal basis for processing your personal data is:
Public interest or official authority: Åbo Akademi University has statutory tasks of public interest and the right to exercise official authority according to the Universities Act. Scientific and historical research is an example of a statutory task of public interest.
Public interest or official authority: we collect your personal data in order to conduct research in the public interest.
The legal basis for processing personal data is based on art. 6.1e and further on art. 9.2 j. Data will be stored on secure servers at Åbo Akademi University. Only Jeremia Sjöblom and Martin Lagerström will have access to the email addresses linked to the data. The data will be pseudonymized immediately as it is not necessary to be able to link the data with email addresses for the continuation study. This will be done no later than 6 months after the end of the study.
Which personal data is processed and by whom?
E-mail address. Information on depression, anxiety, loneliness, stress, sex life, relationship quality.
Jeremia Sjöblom and Martin Lagerström. We use Avicenna Research as data controller for the data collection.
From where do we collect your personal data and how is the data processed?
From the participant himself.
Avicenna Research stores the data for the duration of the study. After that, all data is downloaded on secure servers at Åbo Akademi University and all data on Avicenna Research is deleted. The email addresses are temporarily saved in a password-protected folder on Åbo Akademi University’s server and are deleted no later than 6 months after the end of the study. In connection with the publication of studies, pseudonymized data can be published according to the Open Science Framework.
E-mail addresses are deleted no later than 6 months after the data collection has been completed. Pseudonymized data are archived for reuse on protected servers at Åbo Akademi University for 25 years.
Is your personal data transferred to a third party (outside Åbo Akademi University) for processing?
No, personal data will not be transferred for processing outside Åbo Akademi University.
Is your personal data transferred to a third party (outside Åbo Akademi University) for the needs of the third party?
No, personal data will not be transferred outside Åbo Akademi University
Is your personal data transferred outside EU/EEA?
Personal data may be transferred temporarily outside EU/EEA due to the tool being used.
We use Avicenna Research which is a Canadian private company to collect data. According to the EU Commission, Canadian companies have adequate protection of personal data and can therefore be used to collect personal data without the need for additional agreements.
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What rights do you have when Åbo Akademi University processes your personal data?
Åbo Akademi University is responsible for taking appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized or illegal processing and against damage to or loss of personal data. Personal data must always be processed in a fair and transparent manner in accordance with applicable data protection regulations
According to the EU General Data Protection Regulation GDPR, you have the right to
– get transparent information on how your personal data is processed and how you can exercise your rights (Art. 12)
– get access to your personal data at Åbo Akademi University and information on the processing of data (Art. 15)
– have your personal data corrected (Art. 16). Note that employees and students at Åbo Akademi University can in most cases correct their own data according to the instructions on the intranet.
– have your data erased (”the right to be forgotten”) in certain situations (Art. 17)
– restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations (Art. 18)
– have your personal data transferred between systems in certain situations (Art. 20)
– object to the processing of your personal data in certain situations (Art. 21)
– not be subject to automated decision-making, with certain exceptions (Art. 22)
You have also the right to be informed of a personal data breach involving a high risk for your personal data (Art. 34).
When the purpose of the processing is scientific research, statistics or archival purposes, the rights may be restricted by the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). Restrictions on rights always require special protective measures.
If you have questions about your rights, you can contact the responsible contact person (see above) or the ÅAU Data Protection Officer (dataskydd@abo.fi). See also the overall information on the processing of personal data on the ÅAU website (www.abo.fi/en/processing-of-personal-data-at-abo-akademi-university).
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority if you believe that the processing of your personal data is an infringement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Contact information to the data protection authority
Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman
PL 800
00531 Helsinki
+358 29 566 6700 (switchboard)
tietosuoja@om.fi
tietosuoja.fi
What can the profile reveal, and what are its limitations?
The profile will include descriptions and graphs illustrating how your well-being and/or your romantic relationship have varied during your participation in the study. Using the profile, you will be able to identify patterns and correlations between different factors, patterns that may be challenging to see by yourself over an extended period.
- The profile can reveal patterns within yourself/your romantic relationship.
- The profile can show variations between days: it is common with both high and low variation, which does not necessarily indicate that something is problematic.
- The profile is not a diagnostic tool; the research aims to determine whether it is possible to create this type of profile in the first place.