Consent Form Key Information:   Mindfully seeing one's own thoughts objectively is a skill that numerous scientific studies have shown to be significantly beneficial to one's overall health, well-being, and ability to live fully in the present moment.

We are testing three different versions of a free 30-45 minute online game for people to train their brains to recognize and simply ignore (vs try to suppress) thoughts they personally classify as distracting or unhelpful while remaining mindfully awake and aware in the present moment. 

We have made all three versions as interesting and interactive as possible, and believe all three versions will be helpful.  No deception or placebo control is involved.

If you sign this Consent Form electronically at the end, the program will open immediately.  Please ensure you have 45 minutes available at that time to complete the program at that time.  Otherwise, please delay signing until you have the time to participate.

This program is highly interactive and designed for laptops and computers but, unfortunately, it will not function on your phone.   

Your participation is voluntary, of course, but everyone who wishes to participate will be randomly assigned to one of the three versions to try out.

Participation will begin with 16-18 brief multiple-choice questions about how you view and are affected by your thoughts, but you will never be asked anything about the nature or content of your thoughts.

You will then get to try out the program, and then complete the same survey immediately after the program. To determine if any benefits are lasting, you will be sent the same Follow-Up survey three weeks after that. Although the purpose of the study is to help people enjoy life more fully, persons who experience serious emotional reactions to some of their thoughts are advised not to participate at this time.

The only information we will have about you will be your email address for the follow-up survey, and your email address will only be connected to which version you saw, and will not be connected to your own answers on any of the surveys. Your email address will be will be assigned a code number, and the list connecting your email address to this code will be kept in a locked file. Your name or email address will not be used in any report, and when the study is completed and the data have been analyzed, all email addresses will be deleted from our records.  The results of the study, which then could not be associated with you or your email address in any way, may be used in future studies.

Although we expect and hope that your quality of life will be improved as a result of participation, we cannot offer financial or other compensation. If at the end of the three-week follow-up survey you request a link to the version demonstrated to be most effective, you may enter the email address to which you would like us to send that link.

Participants may choose not to respond to surveys or survey questions with no repercussions, and have the right to withdraw from the study at any time without penalty, but please understand that doing so may impair our ability to evaluate how helpful and interesting the program is. 

To obtain more information about the study, ask questions about the research procedures, express concerns about your participation, or report illness, injury or other problems, please contact: 

J. Kim Penberthy, PhD, ABPP
Chester F. Carlson Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences
1300 Jefferson Park Ave 3rd floor
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903
jkp2n@uvahealth.org
434 924 2241

Or

Tonya R. Moon, Ph.D.
Chair, Institutional Review Board for the Social and Behavioral Sciences
One Morton Dr Suite 500
Telephone:  (434) 924-5999
Email: irbsbshelp@virginia.edu
Website: https://research.virginia.edu/irb-sbs
Website for Research Participants: https://research.virginia.edu/research-participants
UVA IRB-SBS # 5403

Study Agreement:
By signing below, I agree to participate in the research study described above.



You may print a copy of this consent for your records.