Dear Prospective Participant:

Thank you for visiting this website to learn more about the Addiction Treatment Experiences Study.  This study is being conducted by Connie R. Matthews and Mary M. D. Selvidge through the Pennsylvania State University.

            The purpose of this study is to learn about the attitudes and behaviors of addiction counselors when working with gay, lesbian, and bisexual clients.  We have previously surveyed counselors, but are also interested in the perspectives of gay men, lesbians, and bisexual individuals who have been clients.  Our hope is that the results of this study can help to inform the work of addiction counselors.  If you choose to participate, please click “I choose to participate” at the bottom of this screen.  This will take you to a questionnaire that will take you approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.  By completing the survey you may have an opportunity to reflect upon your treatment experience(s) while helping us to learn more about how addiction counselors respond to gay, lesbian, and bisexual clients, regardless of whether or not you were “out” to your counselor, the program, or others in the program.  In addition to questions about the treatment experience, you will also be asked some questions about your background, however, you will not be asked for any identifying information.  We do not expect you to experience any discomfort or risk in participating in this study.  If you decide to participate your participation is entirely voluntary and you can choose to stop participation anytime before submitting the answers.  You may also choose to skip individual questions.  We would be happy to send you a summary of the results of this study if you are interested.  At the end of the survey there will be instructions on how to request the results without having your name and address linked to your responses.

            The information you provide will be anonymous.  When you submit your answers to the survey, they will go directly to Connie Matthews, with the return address listed as this website.  There will be nothing to identify you.  While we do hope to present what we learn at professional conferences and/or publish it in professional journals, all information will be analyzed and reported in aggregate form only.

            Should you have questions about this project now or in the future you can contact Dr. Connie Matthews at 333 CEDAR Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, (814) 863-6153, cxm206@psu.edu.  We encourage you to print or save a copy of this consent form for future reference.  All of the information collected for this survey will be kept confidential.  It will not be released to anyone, except in the aggregate form described above and required by law.  

Should you choose to participate, please click “I choose to participate” below to move to the survey.  

Your submission of your answers will be taken to indicate your awareness of the above information and consent to participate.

            We remind you that participation in this study is entirely voluntary, however, we do hope that you will take some time to complete and return the questionnaire.  We value your input.

Sincerely,

I CHOOSE TO PARTICIPATE