UNE student Tia Campbell is looking at the effects of the 2019/2020 bushfires on psychological health for her Honours in Psychology. She’s exploring if secondary or indirect exposure to the bushfires (such as the rolling media coverage or some of the heart breaking social media footage) may have resulted in psychological distress (such as depression, anxiety, stress etc) and if so, to what degree. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, she is finding it challenging to reach potential participants and time is running out.
Please see her appeal for survey participants below and consider participating.
How were you impacted by the 2019/2020 Australian bushfires?
As part of my 4th Year Psychology studies at the University of New England, I am currently conducting an on-line, anonymous questionnaire exploring the psychological impact of indirect trauma. My questionnaire contains a number of questions about your exposure to the 2019/2020 Australian bushfires, as well as basic demographic questions and questions from five validated psychological scales. All up, the questionnaire should only take around 30-40 minutes.
Please note, however, that you are ineligible to participate if you:
- are a professional or volunteer fire-fighter;
- have been diagnosed with an acute stress related disorder (e.g. PTSD);
- have a diagnosed fire phobia;
- cannot read/speak English;
- do not have normal or corrected-to-normal vision; or
- were not living in Australia between December 2019 and March
So, if you’re aged 18 years or older, and up for the challenge, please click on the survey link below…or, if you’d like more information, please contact my supervisor, Dr Bernadine Cocks ( bcocks3@une.edu.au or 02-6773 4376).
Thank you in advance!
Tia Campbell
Survey URL: https://bit.ly/2W4UbWs
Research approved by the University of New England Human Research Ethics Committee under approval number HE20-081, valid until May 4th, 2021