Understanding the Relationships Among Mother’s Characteristics, Young Children’s Temperament, Attachment, and Difficulties in Parenting
Principal Investigator: Kimberly Renk, Ph.D. Co-Investigator: Jayme Puff, M.S.
Investigational Site: University of Central Florida Department of Psychology Introduction: Researchers at the University of Central Florida study many topics
to assist parents in their parenting role. To do this, we need the help of people who agree to take part in a research study. You are being invited to take part in a research study that will include about 104 parenting mothers from agencies in the Orlando area. You have been asked to take part in this research study because you are parenting a child between the ages of 3- and 48-months. You, as the parent, must be 18-years or older to participate in this research study.
The person doing this research is Kimberly Renk, Ph.D., who is an Associate Professor in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at the University of Central Florida, and Jayme Puff, M.S., a Doctoral Student at the University of Central Florida. Some of Dr. Renk’s graduate students are also assisting with this research study; they are Amanda Lowell, Annelise Cunningham, Ellen Kolomeyer, Maria Kahn, and Meagan McSwiggan. Three undergraduate students who are currently serving as research assistants under Dr. Renk’s supervision also will be providing support for this study but will not be
interacting with you in any way.
What you should know about this research study:
Someone will explain this research study to you.
A research study is something you volunteer for.
Whether or not you take part is up to you.
You should take part in this study only because you want to.
You can choose not to take part in the research study.
You can agree to take part now and later change your mind.
Whatever you decide it will not be held against you.
Feel free to ask all the questions you want before you decide.
Purpose of the research study: The infant and preschool years are particularly
2013). There are many characteristics of both parents and young children that are related to young children’s development and to the parent-child relationship. Given these findings, more work is needed to identify specific traits (e.g., emotional and behavioral regulation) that will help parents be successful in their parenting roles and subsequently lead young children to better outcomes over time. To help identify these traits, this study seeks to examine the relationships among mothers’ childhood experiences, mothers’ self- regulation, children’s characteristics (e.g., temperament), and mother-child attachment, with particular emphasis on understanding which of these characteristics predict the ways in which mothers’ parent their children.
What you will be asked to do in this study: If you elect to participate in this
research study, you will be asked to complete an interview as well as a packet of
questionnaires. This will take approximately 1.5 hours to complete. Specifically, for the interview, we will be asking you about your thoughts and ideas about your child and your parenting. This interview will be audio taped so that your responses to questions can be transcribed and coded into scores about children and parenting. Once your interview has been transcribed and coded, its recording will be deleted. For the packet of
questionnaires, we will be asking you to rate your own characteristics, your ideas about parenting, and your child’s characteristics. At no time on these questionnaires will we ask you to write your name or any other identifying information.
Time required: We expect that you will be in this research study for
approximately 1.5 hours. In particular, approximately 30 minutes will be spent completing the interview, and about one hour will be spent completing the packet of questionnaires. Throughout the completion of the research study, you will have someone to help you with these tasks and answer any questions that may arise.
Risks: Although there are no known risks from participating in this research
study, some individuals may be sensitive to the information presented in the questionnaires given to you. Should you have such a reaction, please notify the
investigator(s) working with you so that any concerns that you have can be addressed. Should you feel that you need more time to talk about the issues that may come to mind with our packet of questionnaires, we can help you alert the Director of your facility and make arrangements for further services there. If you feel that you would benefit from talking with a counselor about your own childhood experiences or about your child’s behavior, please contact the Young Child and Family Research Clinic Service in the UCF Psychology Clinic at (407) 257-2978, Nemours Children’s Hospital at (407) 650-7715, or The Happy Mind Company at (407) 704-1461.
Benefits: We cannot promise any benefits to you or others from your taking part
in this research. However, by participating in the research study described here, possible benefits include increasing your awareness of your role as a mother and your perceptions of your own characteristics and those of your child. In addition, by participating in this research, you will be adding to the information available to help families who are
hoped that the information collected as part of this project will identify ways in which families can be helped during difficult times.
Compensation or payment: Participants will not receive any compensation as
part of this study.
Confidentiality: Given the sensitive nature of some of the material that will be
collected as part of this research study, we will not be asking for you to include your name or other identifiers in your interview or on your questionnaires. Please note that you will be assigned a family number which will be the only thing linking all your
information once you have participated in this research study. You can be assured that your completed measures will be stored in a locked file cabinet in a secure laboratory in the Psychology Building at the University of Central Florida and will be used for research purposes only after your participation is completed. Please note that it is the
responsibility of the investigators to disclose to the proper authority any information or behaviors we become aware of concerning your child that may endanger your child or constitute abuse. All other study related information will be kept confidential as stated earlier.
Study contact for questions about the study or to report a problem: If you
have questions, concerns, or complaints, or think the research has hurt you, talk to Kimberly Renk, Ph.D., by phone at (407) 823-2218 or by email at
IRB contact about your rights in the study or to report a complaint: Research
at the University of Central Florida involving human participants is carried out under the oversight of the Institutional Review Board (UCF IRB). This research has been reviewed and approved by the IRB. For information about the rights of people who take part in research, please contact: Institutional Review Board, University of Central Florida, Office of Research & Commercialization, 12201 Research Parkway, Suite 501, Orlando, FL 32826-3246 or by telephone at (407) 823-2901. You may also talk to them for any of the following: Your questions, concerns, or complaints are not being answered by the research team. You cannot reach the research team. You want to talk to someone besides the research team. You want to get information or provide input about this research.
Withdrawing from the study: There are no adverse consequences for choosing
to withdraw from your participation in this study. The person in charge of the research study or the sponsor can remove you from the research study without your approval if you are not 18-years of age (allowing you to consent for yourself), if you are not a mother of a child between the ages of 3- and 48-months, or if your information is not complete.