Early summer greetings! I received information this week on a soon to be occurring research study that has room for more participants. The study is on the effectiveness of an online education program for parents who have children between the ages of 12 and 20 who have engaged in self-injury within the last year. It is being conducted by Cornell University and the 3-C Institute for Social Development in Cary, NC.

Below is the call for participants along with a link to where you can get more information if interested. I’m posting this with the consent of one of the study organizers.

HealingForward:  Online Information and Support Program for Parents of Youth who Self-Injure

Are you or someone you know a parent of a teenager between the ages of 12-20 years old who self-injures without the intention of committing suicide (e.g., cut, burn, scratch, etc.)?  Would you like an opportunity to receive FREE parent support program to learn more about how to help your teen?  If so, you may be eligible to be paid $100 for providing feedback on the first two modules of a new program for parents of youth who self-injure.

We are looking for parents to help us evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of an online support program for parents of youth who injure themselves without suicidal intent (e.g. self cutting, burning, carving, scratching etc…). The program is called HealingForward. The final training will be 10 modules long but we have developed only the first two (plus introduction) for review so that we might make adjustments and revisions based on your feedback.

I’m interested, how do I participate?

In order to be a part of the research study, your teenager or young adult must be between the ages of 12-20 years and have engaged in self-injury without suicidal intent within the past year. We are looking for a diverse group of participants for this study. Because we are only able to offer the program in English at this time, you must be fluent in English.

If you are interested and eligible, we will send you a link to the online course on or around July 1^st.  At that time you will be asked to fill out questionnaires at the beginning of the program, view the program and complete an evaluation of the program.  This will require about 3 hours of your time in total. You will have 3 weeks to complete the study. The study may be completed in multiple sessions; you may save and continue the study over a period of time, at your convenience. You will receive $100 at the end of the training for your time spent reviewing the materials and filling out these questionnaires.

What do I do next?

If you want to learn more about being in this research study or if your family is eligible,

CLICK HERE FOR THE ELIGIBILITY SURVEY or contact Dr. Janis Whitlock atjlw43@cornell.edu or Carrie Ernhout at  cge27@cornell.edu. Shortly after you complete the eligibility consent and the eligibility survey (which should take about 10 minutes), we will contact you about whether you are eligible for participation.

Your help with this program will aid us in developing an educational tool for parents of youth who injure themselves.  Your assistance is invaluable.  Thank you for your willingness to help!