Study 1 - COVID - Methods

Online Survey #1

Measures

Information

Title Name Description Reference
info Information questionnaire Assesses demographics, health, and location information Made by BABLab
demographics Demographics questionnaire Assesses socioeconomic status, employment, and commitments (e.g., volunteer work, child care) Made by BABLab
covid_objective Objective impact of COVID-19 Assesses the objective impact of COVID-19 including infection, quarantine, household, social distancing etc. Made by BABLab

Affect

Title Name Description Reference
panas Positive and negative affect schedule Assesses current and retrospective (past week) degree of self-reported positive and negative affect through emotion words Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988
paq Perth alexithymia questionnaire Assesses all components of alexithymia (i.e., difficulty identifying and describing one’s own feelings and having an externally orientated thinking style) across negative and positive emotions Preece et al., 2018

Somatic

Title Name Description Reference
somna Somatic markers of negative affect Assesses physical sensations of anxiety and sadness, where they are located, and their intensity Made by BABLab
maia Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness Multidimensional self-report measure of interoceptive body awareness Mehling et al., 2012
hai Health anxiety inventory Assesses people’s anxiety about health symptoms (hypochondriasis) Salkovskis et al., 2006
ss Somatic symptoms Assesses a range of somatic symptoms in adult participants Körber et al., 2011
pill Pennebaker inventory of limbid languidness Measures people’s tendency to notice and report a braod array of physical symptoms and sensations Pennebaker, 1982
pedsql_gi Pediatric Quality of life – Gastrointestinal Symptoms Module Assess incidence of Gastrointestinal Symptoms and fatigue in children Varni et al., 2015
med_check Medication checklist List of medications that participants are on – needed for physiology analyses as well as verification of physical health issues Made by BABLab
gastrointestinal_disorders Gastrointetsinal disorders questionnaire Assesses gastrointestinal issues, their frequency and intensity Made by BABLab
rome Rome IV criteria questionnaire Assesses the presence of symptoms which meet criteria for irritable bowel syndrome as stated by the Rome IV Made by BABLab
menstrual_cycle Menstrual cycle questionnaire Assesses menstrual phase, which affects gastrointestinal responding, as well as medications which may affect menstrual phase such as oral contraceptive use Made by BABLab
psst Premenstrual symptoms screening tool Assesses premenstrual syndromes and criteria for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (pmdd) as well as premenstrual syndrome (pms) Steiner, Macdougall, & Brown, 2003
bss Bristol stool scale Diagnostic medical stool designed to classify the form of human faeces into seven categories Bristol Royal Infirmary

Stress

Title Name Description Reference
covid_subjective Subjective impact of COVID-19 Assesses the subjective impact of COVID-19 on well-being Made by BABLab
pss Perceived stress scale Examines how different situations affected feelings and perceived stress in the last month Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983
sasrq Stanford acute stress reaction questionnaire Assesses the psychological symptoms experienced in the aftermath of a traumatic event Cardeña et al., 2000
cte Childhood traumatic events questionnaire The Childhood Traumautic Events Questionnaire is a brief survey of six early traumatic experiences (death, divorce, violence, sexual abuse, illnesss, and upheaval) Pennebaker & Susman, 2013
ctq Childhood trauma questionnaire Assesses the severity of emotional abuse and neglect, physical abuse and neglect and sexual abuse Bernstein, 1994
ccfq Cognitive control and flexibility questionnaire Measures an individual’s percevied ability to exert control over intrusive, unwanted (negative) thoughts and emotions, and their ability to flexibly cope with a stressful situation Gabrys et al., 2018
ptgi Post-traumatic growth inventory An instrument for assessing positive outcomes reported by persons who have experienced traumatic events Tedeschi, & Calhoun, 1996
usq Undergraduate stress questionnaire The undergraduate stress inventory presents students with various stressors and asks them to indicate if any of the events have happened to them. They are also asked how stressed they are by this event Crandall, Preisler, & Aussprung, 1992
brcs Brief resilient coping scale The Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) is a 4-item measure designed to capture tendencies to cope with stress in a highly adaptive manner Sinclair & Wallston, 2004

Mental health

Title Name Description Reference
stai State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Measure of trait and state anxiety that can be used in clinical settings to diagnose anxiety and to distinguish it from depressive syndromes Spielberger, 1989
bdi Beck depression inventory Developed for the assessment of symptoms corresponding to criteria for diagnosing depressive disorders listed in the DSM IV Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996
mental_health_history Mental health history A questionnaire to assess mental health history Made by BABLab

Social

Title Name Description Reference
uclals UCLA loneliness scale A 20-item scale designed to measure one’s subjective feelings of loneliness as well as feelings of social isolation Russell, Peplau, & Ferguson, 1978
scq Social craving questionnaire A measure designed to address social cravings. Made by BABLab
asc Adolescent social connection and coping during COVID-19 Designed to learn about the ways you connect with people, and how it makes you feel. This might be affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, especially when following physical distancing or shelter-in-place orders Pfeifer et al., 2020
mspss Multidimensional scale of perceived social support Measures perceptions of support from 3 sources: Family, Friends, and a Significant Other Zimet, 1990
scs Social comparison scale Measures self-perceptions of social rank and relative social standing Allan & Gilbert, 1995

Personality

Title Name Description Reference
bfi_10 Big five personality inventory Inventory that measures an individual on the big five factors of personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscentiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience) Rammstedt & John, 2007
ius Intolerance of uncertainty scale Examines self-reported degree of agreement with the idea that uncertainty is unacceptable, reflects badly on a person, and leads to frustration, stress, and the inability to take action Carleton, Norton, & Asmundson, 2007

Lifestyle

Title Name Description Reference
psqi Pittsburgh sleep quality index Measures the quality and patterns of sleep in adults, differentiating “poor” from “good” sleep quality by measuring seven areas (components): subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medications, and daytime dysfunction over the last month Buysse et al., 1989
timeline Timeline questionnaire Free response assessment of how participants spend an average day in hour increments Made by BABLab
bfq Brief food questionnaire Assesses participants consumption of food groups Made by BABLab
ipaq International physical activity questionnaire Asks questions on physical activity Booth, 2000

Media

Title Name Description Reference
media_consumption Media consumption questionnaire Examines media consumption in the typical two-week period before COVID-19 and current consumption. Social media usage, news consumption, public health information consumption, and COVID-19 beliefs are assessed Made by BABLab
smcs Social media craving scale Evaluates social media desire by examining frequency and duration of thoughts about social media use as well as degree of difficulty in resisting social media use Savci & Griffiths, 2019

Well-being

Title Name Description Reference
shs Subjective happiness scale A 4-item measure of gloval subjective happiness Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999

Qualitative

Title Name Description Reference
written_response Long form qualitative written response Prompts respondent to reflect on and describe within a 5 minute time frame how COVID-19 has impacted daily life Adapted from Pennebaker, 1997


The following measures were adapted from their original versions for Inside Out:

  • ss
    includes retrospective (pre-COVID-19) and current assessment
  • hai
    includes retrospective (pre-COVID-19) and current assessment
  • pedsql_gi
    includes retrospective (pre-COVID-19) and current assessment
  • psqi
    includes retrospective (pre-COVID-19) and current assessment
  • shs
    includes retrospective (pre-COVID-19) and current assessment
  • ipaq
    includes retrospective (pre-COVID-19) and current assessment
  • bfi
    BFI-10 plus additional questions assessing Introversion/Extroversion taken from the original BFI (44-items)

Procedure

Recruitment

Participants were recruited in two ways - via SONA and via a raffle.

The following materials were used:

Timing

Pilot time:

  • Research Assistant #1 - 1 hour and 50 minutes
  • Research Assistant #2 - 1 hour and 15 minutes
  • Research Assistant #3 - 1 hour and 5 minutes

Questionnaire Order

  1. panas (assessed 3 times - once at beginning, once before writing, once after writing)
  2. information
  3. somna
  4. covid_objective
  5. somatic_symptoms (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  6. pss
  7. hai (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  8. bdi_ii (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  9. pill
  10. covid_subjective
  11. pedsql_gi (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  12. media_consumption
  13. ctq
  14. sci
  15. psqi
  16. cte
  17. timeline
  18. uclals
  19. sasrq
  20. ccfq
  21. maia (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  22. stai
  23. usq
  24. bfq (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  25. asc
  26. demographics
  27. shs
  28. mspss
  29. ipaq (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  30. ius
  31. smcs
  32. bfi
  33. ptgi_brcs
  34. mental_health_history
  35. med_check
  36. gastro
  37. rome
  38. menstrual
  39. panas
  40. written_response
  41. panas

Attention Checks

  1. covid_objective
  2. covid_subjective
  3. media_consumption
  4. scq
  5. sasrq
  6. bfq
  7. ipaq
  8. ptgi

Online Survey #1B

Measures

Information

Title Name Description Reference
info Information questionnaire Assesses demographics, health, and location information Made by BABLab
demographics Demographics questionnaire Assesses socioeconomic status, employment, and commitments (e.g., volunteer work, child care) Made by BABLab
covid_objective Objective impact of COVID-19 Assesses the objective impact of COVID-19 including infection, quarantine, household, social distancing etc. Made by BABLab

Affect

Title Name Description Reference
panas Positive and negative affect schedule Assesses current and retrospective (past week) degree of self-reported positive and negative affect through emotion words Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988
paq Perth alexithymia questionnaire Assesses all components of alexithymia (i.e., difficulty identifying and describing one’s own feelings and having an externally orientated thinking style) across negative and positive emotions Preece et al., 2018

Somatic

Title Name Description Reference
somna Somatic markers of negative affect Assesses physical sensations of anxiety and sadness, where they are located, and their intensity Made by BABLab
ss Somatic symptoms Assesses a range of somatic symptoms in adult participants Körber et al., 2011
pill Pennebaker inventory of limbid languidness Measures people’s tendency to notice and report a braod array of physical symptoms and sensations Pennebaker, 1982
pedsql_gi Pediatric Quality of life – Gastrointestinal Symptoms Module Assess incidence of Gastrointestinal Symptoms and fatigue in children Varni et al., 2015
gastrointestinal_disorders Gastrointetsinal disorders questionnaire Assesses gastrointestinal issues, their frequency and intensity Made by BABLab
rome Rome IV criteria questionnaire Assesses the presence of symptoms which meet criteria for irritable bowel syndrome as stated by the Rome IV Made by BABLab

Early Life Stress

Title Name Description Reference
cte Childhood traumatic events questionnaire The Childhood Traumautic Events Questionnaire is a brief survey of six early traumatic experiences (death, divorce, violence, sexual abuse, illnesss, and upheaval) Pennebaker & Susman, 2013
ctq Childhood trauma questionnaire Assesses the severity of emotional abuse and neglect, physical abuse and neglect and sexual abuse Bernstein, 1994
ace Adverse childhood experiences survey Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) include verbal, physical, or sexual abuse, as well as family dysfunction (e.g., an incarcerated, mentally ill, or substance-abusing family member; domestic violence; or absence of a parent because of divorce or separation). ACEs have been linked to a range of adverse health outcomes in adulthood, including substance abuse, depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and premature mortality. Felitti et al., 1998

Mental health

Title Name Description Reference
stai State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Measure of trait and state anxiety that can be used in clinical settings to diagnose anxiety and to distinguish it from depressive syndromes Spielberger, 1989
bdi Beck depression inventory Developed for the assessment of symptoms corresponding to criteria for diagnosing depressive disorders listed in the DSM IV Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996

The following measures were adapted from their original versions for Inside Out:

  • ss
    includes retrospective (pre-COVID-19) and current assessment
  • pedsql_gi
    includes retrospective (pre-COVID-19) and current assessment

Procedure

Recruitment

Participants were recruited via SONA.

Timing

20-30 minutes

Questionnaire Order

  1. information
  2. somna
  3. cte
  4. somatic_symptoms (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  5. ctq
  6. pill
  7. ace
  8. pedsql_gi (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  9. bdi_ii (assessed currently and retrospectively before COVID-19)
  10. gastro
  11. stai
  12. rome
  13. alexithymia
  14. covid_objective
  15. demographics

Attention Checks

  1. covid_objective

Enrollment

Sign Ups

All participants (even those on SONA) are instructed to sign-up via our website which includes filling out a form that submits an email to the BABLab Gmail account.

  1. Add the participant to the ID spreadsheet on the ID Drive (make sure you are in the correct sheet for the version of the study)

  1. Compose an email from the “email_replies” template in BABLAB/Studies/Inside_Out/Private/Recruitment/email_replies.md (open this with TextEdit)

There are several current templates in here at all times to copy to an email. Copy and replace any brackets with the relevant information.

Important

Press reply and delete the two emails in the to field. Replace it with the correct email from the form.

  1. Generate a REDCap ID for that participant based on the spreadsheet
  • In the REDCap project click Add/Edit Records

  • Type in the corresponding new participant number and press enter

  • Click into the participant instrument in the event you are running

  • Enter the wave and study number, complete, lock, save and exit form

  • Click into the first survey item

  • Click into survey options and survey access code

  • Copy the survey access code, paste into the email, and send

Participants do not always use the correct email form on the website, and instead just sign up via SONA

Therefore, we must cross-reference our SONA sign-ups with our ID spreadsheet.

  1. Log into SONA
  2. Click “My Studies” and “Timeslots”
  3. Click into your timeslot and cross reference the sign-ups with the ID spreadsheet

Add anyone who isn’t there and enroll them using the same procedure as above - make sure to insert the correct subject line into the email.

Tracking

  1. Mark the participant status on the ID spreadsheet as completed (green), in progress (yellow), not started (red), or duplicate/cancelled/mistake (dark red and strikethrough)
  2. Send the participant 3 reminders (spread out across three days)

The reminder templates can be found in the email_replies.md

Important

Each time you send a participant a reminder, you will need to ensure that their survey code and return code are correct. They can change each time a participant attempts to log in to the survey - so it is imperative to check before sending each reminder.

Participants will always have a survey code, which can be found by clicking survey options. You must click into the most recently completed survey when sending a reminder (check the timestamp to be sure they are not mid-completion)

Some participants will also have a return code (yellow button) if they saved their place. Remember to send this code to them as well.

  1. Mark each reminder as sent or na if completed/cancelled
  2. Fill in age, sex, and recontact permission

Granting Credit

  1. Once participants have completed the survey - log on and grant credit via SONA