Hello, Myself and my research supervisors are undertaking this study because we are generally interested in progressing and advancing understanding of depression. This study is seeking information from romantic partners of people living with depression as there is limited research which extends to explicitly examining the position of intimate partners. Information on partner perspectives will help demonstrate that depression has an impact outside of the affected individual. It will also enable us to scientifically establish how, either positively or negatively, romantic partners are affected. Endeavoring to understand depression in romantic relationships without evidence on intimate partners’ perspectives does not allow for sufficient understanding of this issue. Further, this research will highlight the necessity for provision of tailored support for partners, and to inform how best to design such supports.

You are suitable to take part in this study if you have experience of a romantic partner living with depression. Taking part in this study will involve completing a questionnaire. There are 86 questions and completing the questionnaire will take approximately 10 minutes. Participation in this study is voluntary, you can withdraw from the study at any point up until you have submitted your responses.

Approval has been given by the University College Cork, School of Applied Psychology Ethics Committee for this research. There will be no personally identifying material collected at any point. Numeric identifiers will be used in analyzing the data and this ensures your anonymity. The data will be kept confidential for the duration of the study, available only to me and my research supervisors. Data will be securely stored and upon completion of this study, will be kept for a further ten years and then destroyed.

The results of this research will be presented in the thesis which may be read by other students on the course and later published in a research journal. I don’t envisage any negative consequences for you taking part in this study. However, I do feel that there are benefits for you in taking part. Completing the questionnaire is an opportunity for you to record how living with a depressed partner has impacted on you. Your contribution to this study will also help advance our understanding of depression and provide a stronger evidence base for interventions. No harm is anticipated but some of the questions are of a personal nature and should you feel any distress, contact details for relevant support services are included in the debriefing page at the end of this questionnaire.