Death Reflection

How does thinking about death affect you?

Consent Form

Investigating the Influence
of Death Reflection on AdultsStudent Supervisor
Marla Morden, PhD.
Dept. of Psychology
Vancouver Island University
[email protected]Principal Investigator
Savannah Browne, Student
Dept. of Psychology
Vancouver Island University
[email protected]

☠️

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of death reflection on adults. In this study, you may be asked to complete a death reflection exercise or think about a favourite piece of music. The death reflection exercise involves imagining yourself dying in a particular scenario, followed by answering four open-ended questions. Afterwards, you may be asked to write about any positive thoughts or feelings related to your experience of the death reflection exercise.

☠️

Your participation is voluntaryYour participation in this study should take no more than thirty minutes, and your responses will remain completely confidential. Your participation in this study is completely voluntary, and you may withdraw at any point before submission without any repercussions (e.g., you will still be eligible to enter the raffle draw for a gift card). If you wish to withdraw participation, you may do so by not answering any questions or leaving at any time. Furthermore, opting not to participate will not negatively impact the principal investigator's ability to complete her degree.

☠️

Benefits and harmsThere are no direct benefits to participating. Upon completion, you will have the opportunity to enter a raffle to win either a $100, $75, and $25 Steam/Amazon gift card. You need to provide an email address to enter the draw as the winner will be contacted by email. Please note that your email will not be associated with your submission.Although it might surprise you to learn this, past research has consistently shown that reflecting on death may support and promote mental health. Reflecting on death may bring up negative feelings, and it is possible that reflecting on death will make you feel uncomfortable. In particular, for individuals with asthma, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, heightened mental health risk, or thanatophobia visualizing oneself dying may exacerbate the likelihood of emotional distress. In addition, if you have any experience with smoke inhalation or carbon monoxide poisoning, please do not continue with this study. If you are worried that reflecting on death will not support your mental health, please do not continue with this study. If you do continue with the study, and experience any emotional or mental distress, please know that you are welcome to end your participation at any time. You are also encouraged to contact one of the mental health resources listed at the bottom of this website.Your privacy is important to us. The demographic information we collect is minimal, which includes your age (only individuals over the legal age of majority are allowed to participate), gender, and religious affiliation (if any). We are asking about these personal details as past research suggests that they may influence death reflection responses. Please note that you are welcome to skip or not answer questions that you do not want to answer.

☠️

Participation and withdrawalIn order to maintain your privacy and confidentiality, we are not collecting any personally identifying information (e.g., names).You have the option to consent to this study using direct quotations from your responses. Please note that all directly identifiable information will be removed, and any quotations used with be associated with a pseudonym.If you withdraw prior to submission, your responses will not be used in the study. Please note that even if you withdraw, you will still be eligible to enter the raffle draw for a gift card.

☠️

Use of research informationThe study results may be presented at the Vancouver Island University CREATE 2025 Conference, or other academic conferences, or submitted to academic journals for publication. If you would like to see a copy of the results, you will be invited to share your email address (optional). The primary researcher will contact you with a summary of the results once data analysis is complete. Or, if you prefer, please email the principal investigator in the fall of 2025 to request a summary of the results (Savannah at [email protected]).

☠️

Management of research data/informationWritten answers will be uploaded to the principal investigator's password-protected computer (not in the cloud) for storage. Once the written answers are uploaded, the physical copies will be shredded. Only members of the research team will have access to the data.The surveys provided in this study are anonymous and confidential. Survey data and consent forms will be stored on servers affiliated with the survey provider. Data will be stored on SurveyMonkey’s US servers, as such data provided will be subject to SurveyMonkey’s data management and privacy policies; for more information please see:Data management: https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/security/Privacy policies: https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/privacy/After all responses have been collected and downloaded to the principal investigator's password-protected computer, all data will be promptly removed from SurveyMonkey. Data will be kept for no longer than five years and will be completely deleted by the spring of 2029.If you have any questions about this research or your participation on this research, please feel free to contact us through email: Savannah at [email protected] or Marla Morden at [email protected].

☠️

This study has been approved by the Vancouver Island University Research Ethics Board (103394). If you have any concerns about your treatment as a research participant in this study, please contact the VIU Research Ethics Board by telephone at 250-740-6631 or by email at [email protected].

☠️

Please take a screenshot or print the consent form if you wish to keep a copy for your records.

☠️

Canadian Mental Health ResourcesNational ResourcesSuicide Crisis Helpline
- Available 24/7.
- Call or text 988.Community Resources
Website to find helplines and other crisis resources in your community.Hope for Wellness Helpline
- Available 24/7.
- Call (1-855-242-3310) or chat online.
- Help for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples.Click here for an exhaustive list of provincial and territorial resources.Vancouver Island ResourcesVancouver Island Crisis Line
- Available 24/7 to call (1‑888‑494‑3888).
- Texting available every day from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm (250-800-3806).
- Online chat available every day from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

If you would like more information,
please email the research team.