If you lived in a postcode affected by flooding in 2022/23 (even if your property was not inundated), you are invited to complete a 20-minute questionnaire about your sleep and wellbeing and receive a $5 gift voucher for participating.
Sleep is important for general health and wellbeing, however, significant life events can impact on people’s ability to achieve quality sleep. The purpose of this study is to understand how extreme weather events, such as floods, influence people’s sleep patterns. We are also interested in the ways that characteristics of physical and social environments (e.g., noise, light, mould) can influence people’s sleep after flooding.
If you agree to participate, we will ask you to complete an online questionnaire about your experiences with flooding, the characteristics of your neighbourhood and housing environments, and your current sleep. We will also ask if you are interested in participating in other research activities examining the influence of floods on sleep.
Who can be involved?
Please only proceed with participation in this research if you meet the following criteria:
- Are aged 18 years or older;
- Live/d in a postcode affected by flooding in 2022/3;
- Are able to read and understand English.
- Are not currently experiencing any medically diagnosed clinical sleep disorder; and
- Are not currently working overnight shifts (i.e., work between the hours of 12am and 6am).
What will I need to do?
If you agree to participate, we will ask you to complete an online questionnaire about your experiences with flooding, the characteristics of your neighbourhood and housing environments, and your current sleep. We will also ask if you are interested in participating in other research activities examining the influence of floods on sleep. The survey will take approximately 25 minutes to complete.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
Although this research will not directly benefit you, your participation will contribute valuable new insights to inform the development of interventions, supports, and advice, to help people affected by floods or other extreme weather events in the future. As an acknowledgement of participation and thanks, you will receive an eGift Card of $5.00 from Woolworths Big W and Ampol Fuel.
What are the possible risks and disadvantages of taking part?
There are minimal risks associated with your participation in this study. You may find it inconvenient to complete the questionnaires. However, you can discontinue participation at any time, or save your partially completed survey and complete it later. You may experience some emotional or psychological discomfort from being asked to reflect on your experience of the flood and ongoing recovery efforts. However, you may choose not to answer any questions you feel uncomfortable answering. If you are concerned about the risk of this discomfort, please remember that your participation in this study is voluntary – you do not have to participate. If you do experience any psychological discomfort from participation, we will provide a list of mental health services and supports that you can contact for support.
What will happen to the information about me?
All information collected about you will remain confidential. We do not ask for any personally identifying information such as your name and address. All survey information will be coded with a unique user-generated code that only you can know. Electronic survey responses will be stored on a secure online storage system (UQ Research Data Manager) and only be viewed by the research team. Data will be retained for at least five years from the date of final publication before being deleted or destroyed.
Sometimes it is useful to use data for research purposes other than those specified in this statement. For example, researchers may think of a new question that your data may help to address. We will ask you whether you consent to the future use of your data in this way. Please note that this does not result in any change to the confidentiality or de-identified format of your data, ensuring your anonymity. If you do not agree to the use of your data for this purpose, you may still participate.
It is anticipated that the results of this research project will be published and presented in a variety of forms. In any publication or presentation, information will be provided in such a way that you cannot be identified.
What will happen if I decide to withdraw?
Your participation in this research is voluntary and you are free to withdraw from the research anytime without needing to provide any explanation, and you would not receive any penalty or bias because of your withdrawal. Should you decide to withdraw, all the information collected from you will be destroyed and will not be used in the research. We will assist you to provide your unique participant code (generated based on a series of questions that only you can know) so that we can destroy your data. However, if you cannot provide this code (e.g., due to incorrect recall of the answer to the questions), we will be unable to destroy your data.
Can I hear about the results of this research?
If you would like to receive a brief one-page summary of our findings at the end of the project, please opt-in to receive this information at the end of the survey, or email sleepsoc@uq.edu.au to provide us with your best contact details.
Who can I contact if I have any concerns about the project?
This study adheres to the Guidelines of the ethical review process of The University of Queensland and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. Whilst you are free to discuss your participation in this study with the researcher contactable on sleepsoc@uq.edu.au. If you would like to speak to an officer of the University not involved in the study, you may contact the Ethics Coordinator on +617 3365 3924 / +617 3443 1656 or email humanethics@research.uq.edu.au
This research Ethics ID number: 2022/HE002079.
Researcher(s): Dr Shannon Edmed, Dr Kalina Rossa, Dr Cassandra Pattinson, Ms Nadine Lorimer, Professor Simon Smith.
Affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course, Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Follow the team on Instagram: @sleepsoc_issr
Related Stories
See Westender’s Brisbane Floods stories HERE
