Researcher bios and how their research backgrounds relate to this study

I am a current MA student in counselling psychology at McGill University, working with Dr. Khoury in the McGill Mindfulness Research Laboratory (MMRL). The majority of my research experience revolves around substance use, and I have worked on several projects relating to coping motivated cannabis use, sexualized drug use among MSM, and resilience among alcohol using indigenous adolescents. Th current study is primarily looking to investigate how trait mindfulness might serve as a protective factor against coping motivated substance use (alcohol and cannabis) among TGNC adults.

Purpose of this research project

The current study aims to fill the gap in the current literature, and further investigate the relation between trait mindfulness and mental health outcomes (e.g. stress, anxiety, depression) within a Canadian/American adult TGNC sample. It will also be the first study simultaneously investigating minority stress and substance use as well as trait mindfulness and mental health outcomes within a TGNC sample. We hope to better understand the relations between the aforementioned constructs. We will compare not only TGNC participants to each other, but also their cis-gendered counterparts. Additionally, we plan on looking at how these constructs shift over time within the same sample. The information gained from this study could be used to inform future clinicians and researchers in the development of mindfulness-based interventions that target mental health outcomes and substance use within TGNC populations. This study will also be used to create a database with participant (volunteered) contact information that we as researchers can contact participants in future studies meant to develop said mindfulness-based intervention.

The first analysis being run as a part of this larger-scale study is a mediated moderation, looking at the relation between trait mindfulness, distress tolerance, minority stress, and coping motivated substance use among TGNC adults.

Potential participants can access more information and an online survey here: https://mcgillecp.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bJBgvHWimHaxrtI 

How this research will help LGBT2SQ people and communities

I plan on furthering the knowledge of mindfulness and resilience factors in relation to the to the mental health related outcomes of TGNC adults (such as Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Life-Satisfaction, Substance Use, Rumination, etc), and with this knowledge will contribute (both directly and indirectly) to the development of accessible mindfulness-based interventions meant to help these marginalized communities receive care which is currently greatly lacking.

Participants

Anyone who is 18 years or older, currently residing in Canada / US, and those who have an adequate (self-identified) level of english reading comprehension. We are currently especially interested in recruiting TGNC (trans and gender nonconforming) participants as we have reached our recruitment quota for cis participants, though cis participants may still participate if they so choose.

Compensation

Participants who will be recruited via the McGill psychology undergraduate participant pool will be compensated with 1 participant pool credit, which will be allotted via Sona Systems. Students who complete the study can use the gained credit in the participant-pool-participating courses that they are registered in in exchange for grades and/or partial course fulfilment/requirement. Only students who fulfill the inclusion criteria will be allotted the credits, and students who fill out the entirety of the survey (though they will be able to select an option of “prefer not to answer” for all questions and will not be penalized for making this selection).

Those recruited outside of the pool will be entered into a draw where they will have a 1/10 chance to win a prize of $50 CAD. This money will be awarded by contacting winning participants via email, informing them of their prize, and offering them the option to receive a gift card of their choice (e.g., Amazon, ebay) of the posted amount. Only participants who complete the study will be entered into the draw.

All eligible participants’ de-identified IDs will be entered into a system that will randomly shuffle the IDs and select 10 “winners” each time 100 participants (recruited via social media and not the participant pool) complete the study, so that there is a ratio of 1/10 winning participants. Participants who won will be notified by email to receive their gift. If a participant does not reply within two weeks, a second notification will be sent. If a participant does not reply within two other weeks (i.e., four weeks in total), their name will be discarded and another name drawn.

Mitigation measures

Participants’ main risks associated with this study are discomfort. Participants who may be a part of a gender minority or are a heavy drug or alcohol user may face certain prejudices and discrimination in their daily lives, which can include several negative outcomes such as housing or employment instability. As such, topics such as drug use or gender minority status may make certain participants uncomfortable, potentially fearing dissemination of their personal / private information. We will be sure to let them know that the data collected will be completely anonymized and kept private, and results will only be presented in an aggregated format within both the consent form and the debrief form. We will, of course, also remind them that they may withdraw both their consent and their data at any point.

We will not be able to tell if someone experiences discomfort as part of their participation in this study, since participation is via an online survey. We do not meet with participants and do not check data on a daily basis, and so will not be able to flag anyone at risk. However, all participants will also be provided with a list of resources (including, counselling services, support groups, and anonymous phone services) that they may consult.

Promoting the Study

Participants will be recruited online by the P.I., MA student Agata Kasprzyk, using two different methods. First, undergraduate students enrolled in McGill university’s psychology department will see the study posted and advertised on the participant pool (Appendix B), and will be able to complete the study in exchange for one pool credit. There will be a built-in screener within the online survey which will determine the eligibility of participants (i.e. if they are over the age of 18, if they have a good comprehension of written English, and if they are either living in Canada or the United States). Those who do not fulfil the criteria for the study will automatically be redirected to the end of the survey.

Second, participants will be recruited via social media (primarily Instagram, as well as Facebook and Reddit), and through LGBTQ+ community organizations, where they will see our flier advertising the study. They will be able to follow a link that will immediately take them to Qualtrics, where they can start filling out the survey. Individuals on social media will be encouraged to share and distribute the flier freely, and the social media accounts of Montreal LGBTQ+ organizations (such as the Centre for Gender Advocacy, asteq, p10, Jeunesse Lambda, Aide aux Trans du Quebec, Queer McGill, Femtl, and TRAPs) will be informally contacted on social media and encouraged to share the flier on their socials as well. Though we aim to recruit both cis-gendered and TGNC participants, sharing our flier within LGBTQ+ and TGNC organizations may help us reach more TGNC participants, allowing us to acquire richer data.