REC Reference Number:16/Ee/0226

Version 2.0, 24May 2016IRAS ID: 195655

Information Sheet for Participants

REC Reference Number:16/ee/0226

Complete our online survey to help us understand the relationship between Creativity, Occupation, Mind wandering, and Education (COME-on!!)

We would like to invite you to complete an online survey investigating if mind wandering can lead to differences in our education, occupation,and creativity. Everyone’s mind wanders, but we all do it to a different degree, so what is its impact? For some it may be useful and lead to creativity or working in a certain profession. For others it may have a negative effect, perhaps by making it difficult to learn at school. Severe mindwandering that just won’t seem to stop could also be associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). By exploring the relationship between these things we can better understand the impact of mind wandering and the extent to which it affects peoples’ lives.

This project is being organised by researchers at the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King’s College London - Before you decide if you would like to take part, it is important that you understand why we are conducting this research and what your participation will involve. Please read this information sheet carefully and discuss it with others if you wish. Also, please ask us if anything is unclear or you would like further information. Contact details can be found at the end of this Information Sheet.

What participating involves

You must be aged 16 or over to participate. You will be asked to complete the online survey, which takesaround 10 - 15 minutes. You do not have to complete it in one session; you can save your responses and return to it at a later time (but it must be within 1 week of starting the survey). You will be asked questions about your education, occupation, health, behaviour, and personality. By participating you can contribute to research that can further our understanding of the implications of mind wandering.

Participation is entirely voluntary. You should only participate if you want to; choosing not to will not disadvantage you in any way. If you decide to take part you can still withdraw from the study at any point without giving a reason, up until the point of data analyses. Selecting the relevant boxes in the electronic consent form indicates your consent to participate in this research, and for all submitted data to be used. This includes submission of partially completed surveys, whereby pressing the ‘next’ or ‘continue’ button indicates your consent for data entered up to that point to be included in the study.

There will also be a chance to be entered into a prize draw to win one of five £50 Amazon vouchers when you complete the survey.

Confidentiality

The Survey is hosted by Qualtrics ( a survey platform that treats all data as highly confidential. The data does not belong to them and they do not know what data is being collected. They use best industry practices to keep data safe and their servers are protected by high-end firewall systems. Any information you provide in this study will be kept strictly confidential, and any personal details you provide will be kept separate from your survey responses ensuring anonymity. You will be provided with a unique identification number which will be used for all your data stored on our database. Information will be handled in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act 1998. During analyses individual data will not be identifiable.

Study findings

Results arising from this study will be included in a PhD thesis and presented at international academic conferences and published in academic journals. We may also disseminate research findings through media outlets, including social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter).

Questions and queries

If you have any questions or require more information about this study, please contact the researcher using the following contact details: Florence Mowlem, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF. E-mail:

Complaints

If you have any concern about any aspect of this study, please contact Florence Mowlem using the contact details above, who will do their best to answer your questions. If you remain unhappy and wish to complain formally, you can do this through the NHS Complaints Procedure at SLaM using the following contact details: Complaints Department, Maudsley Hospital, 111 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AZ. Telephone: 0203 228 2444/2499. Email:

This study is co-sponsored by King’s College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust who will at all times maintain adequate insurance in relation to the study.

To complete the survey, please enter the following web address or click the link: