Ethical proposal

H3: Self-compassion an H3: Self-compassion an Ethics Submission Form WLV Psychology Online You must complete all sections of this form in as much detail as possible Your form will be returned if it is incomplete You must have received approval for your research project before you can begin any data collection. Section One First Name: Irene Surname: Ekpe University Email Address: University of Wolverhampton Student Number: 2439487 Daytime Contact Number (in case we need to contact you): 07729245881 Name of Project Supervisor, Director of Studies, or Principal Investigator: Abdel Nabi,Deborah Choose one option for the category of your Project: CATEGORY A CATEGORY 0 projects are non-hazardous; do not employ participants and use only existing material publicly and legally available in the UK. They do not meet the criteria for Category A or B.    CATEGORY A projects usually involve the participation of people (or people's specific data/information), rather than secondary data sources such as published memoirs, etc., but are not deemed hazardous to the physical or psychological welfare of the participant or the Investigator. They do not employ vulnerable individuals in the context of the specific research or investigate issues likely to give grounds for offence.   CATEGORY B projects are likely to involve significant physical intervention between the researcher and the participants. This includes the use of any procedure (including administering questionnaires or interviews on sensitive issues) that could cause psychological harm or suffering to the participants. In such cases, the participants' vulnerability is determined in relation to the methods and content of the research project rather than by an assumption of being at risk. A first degree in an appropriate subject, or other relevant professional recognition, is a minimum requirement for carrying out category B projects. Subject area your research/project is located in (Please check all that apply) FEHW☐ Education☐ Health☐ Sport☐ Psychology☐ FSE☐ FABSS☐ COLT☐ Cross University Project☐ WLV Online Psychology☒ Other (Please give details below)☐ Social Care or Social Work☐ Give details of service user involvement in the development and/or completion of the research. (Service users refer to people who are in current contact with/using the health or social care service/s which are part of your research project, whether or not you are a member of staff in that service) N/A Please provide a start and anticipated end date for your research project (the start date refers to the point at which you will start collecting data- this cannot be before you have received ethical approval). Start Date: 30/01/2026 End Date: 28/02/2026 Section Two 2.1 Project title: The relationship between self-compassion, resilience, and burnout in male and female university students in the UK 2.2 Give details of proposed research questions/hypotheses: Research Question RQ1: What is the relationship between self-compassion, resilience, and burnout among male and female university students in the UK? Hypotheses H1: Higher levels of self-compassion are associated with higher levels of burnout among male and female university students in the UK. H2: Higher levels of resilience are associated with lower levels of burnout among male and female university students in the UK. H3: Self-compassion is significantly correlated with resilience among male and female university students in the UK. 2.3 Briefly outline your Project, stating the rationale, aims, and expected outcomes (300 words max) Rationale The pressure on students studying in the UK universities has never been as high as it is today. The prevalence of burnout has been 40-50% due to excessive workloads, high competition, and post-pandemic recovery issues (Salgado and Au-Yong-Oliveira, 2021; Kotera et al., 2021). Burnout is an emotional exhaustion, cynicism towards academic activity, and decreased personal efficacy, which remains a strong predictor of student dropouts, depression, and substance abuse largely because burnout poorly reflects on motivation, coping capacity, and wellbeing at a psychological level, thus heightening the likelihood of academic withdrawal, mental health problems, and maladaptive coping behaviours. (Farisandy et al., 2023). Self-compassion is the self-kindness, acknowledgment of shared humanity, and mindful awareness in the face of setbacks (Vaillancourt and Wasylkiw, 2019). According to Farisandy et al (2023), self-compassion has a significant negative relationship with academic burnout by mediating the effects of stress through self-nonjudgmental processing. Equally, resilience is the ability to adapt desirably in the face of adversity, has a positive connection with self-compassion and mental health, and tends to mediate such protection among UK students (Kotera et al., 2021; Li et al., 2024). Although the study of self-compassion and its protective role is confirmed in the literature (Farisandy et al., 2023; Kotera et al., 2021), research specifically focusing on UK students in relation to factors contributing to their burnout or resilience remains scarce, which is a significant knowledge gap in creating specific interventions. The research fills these gaps by investigating the relationship between self-compassion, resilience, and burnout in 150 higher education students in the UK. The results will clarify the protective processes to be used during the development of compassion-oriented and resilience-enhancing interventions, and this aspect is consistent with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and recommendations to improve student retention and well-being. Theoretical Frameworks The theoretical framework of this study will be based on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Theory (Demerouti et al., 2001; Bakker and Demerouti, 2007). JD-R is a theory that job/academic demands (e.g., workload, competition, post-pandemic pressures) are interventions that drain psychological resources, resulting in exhaustion and burnout, whereas resources (self-compassion as emotional regulation, resilience as adaptive capacity) are interventions that stimulate motivation, engagement, and well-being. Self-compassion acts as a buffering resource against high demands, whereas resilience enables resource spirals of gain, which justifies the negative correlations between burnout (H1, H2) and their positive interdependence (H3). Aim The research aims to examine the relationship between self-compassion, resilience, and burnout in male and female university students in the UK. Expected Outcomes It is expected that there will be a positive correlation between self-compassion and burnout and a negative correlation between burnout and resilience, with the measurement being exploratory regarding gender differences. Results will clarify the protective mechanisms that can be exploited, which will support interventions based on compassion and agree with the BPS guidelines. 2.4 How will your research be conducted? (750 words max) Describe the methods so that they can be easily understood. Ensure that acronyms and subject-specific terminology are clearly explained. Participants The researcher will collect primary quantitative data from male and female university students in the UK, who are aged 18 years and above, and are currently enrolled in undergraduate or postgraduate programs in universities. The participants to be interviewed must also be able to read and understand the Participant Information Sheet and complete the online questionnaire without needing much supervision due to their reasonable command of English. The target population will be a non-clinical sample. The methodology adopted is appropriate because the research focuses on self-compassion areas, resilience areas, and academic burnout at the daily levels in a non-clinical population, rather than clinical pathology. The convenience and quota sampling will be the methods of recruitment of participants. The convenience sampling method will be associated with advertisements that will be shared with the targeted community through the Psychology Course Cafe. Also, short recruitment messages will be distributed via social media often used by students, e.g., Facebook groups and Instagram pages of students, and forums like Reddit. The recruitment strategy implemented is multi-channel to enhance the chances of accessing students of various universities, subject areas, and years of study. Design The research will be a quantitative, cross-sectional research design of correlational nature. An online survey will be used to assess all the variables through self-report questionnaires filled out at only one time point, which is predicted to take only 15-20 minutes. Conceptual Framework 2447925151765102798944552Self-Compassion 0Self-Compassion +24323041043900 14001754445016357343223200 H1 385725446512Burnout of University Students 0Burnout of University Students 245225512196001048740181643Resilience 0Resilience H3242887527305H2 _ Fig.1: Conceptual Framework Materials The respondents will suggest certain basic demographic information, i.e., age, gender identification, course/subject area, and institution type. Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form (SCS-SF): SCS-SF (Raes et al., 2011) is a questionnaire, which is a self-report instrument, with 12 items that assess six variables of self-compassion, such as self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and over-identification. The answer is measured with the help of the 5-point Likert scale (1 (rarely) to 5 (almost always)). The average of the six subscale means is a total self-compassion score, where high scores mean the person has high self-compassion. SCS-SF proved to have high internal consistency (with a Cronbach alpha of above 0.7). Brief Resilience Scale (BRS): BRS (Smith et al., 2008) is a 6-item Scale that concentrates on the concept of resiliency as the power to overcome stress. The rating is provided on the basis of a 5-point Likert scale (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Items that are formulated negatively are reversed, and a mean score is obtained, where a higher score indicates a higher level of resilience. One of the sample items is: "I typically resolve challenging periods without much trouble. In undergraduate samples (BRS has demonstrated high internal consistency (α =.91)), it has shown good construct validity. It has been positively related to measures of psychological well-being and negatively related to measures of distress. Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey (MBI-SS): MBI-SS (Schaufeli et al., 2002) is a 15-item questionnaire that assesses academic burnout in three subscales, including Emotional Exhaustion (5 items), cynicism (4 items), and Academic Efficacy (6 items and reverse-scored). The rating of the items is determined by a frequency scale ranging between 0 (never) and 6 (always). The subscale means are computed individually; greater scores on the Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism and lower scores on Academic Efficacy signify greater burnout. An example of the Emotional Exhaustion subscale is: I have my studies, and I feel emotionally drained by them. MBI-SS has proven to be very reliable when used with students, and Cronbach's alpha is generally between .85 and .90 among subscales. It has strong factorial validity that affirms it has three factors. All the scales will be introduced in an online Qualtrics survey. Procedure Respondents will be identified with the help of social media (student Facebook/Instagram groups, Reddit r/UniUK). Once the participants are offered access to the study through a special link, they will be redirected to a safe Qualtrics survey. Participants will be shown the Participant Information Sheet first, which describes the purpose, procedures, risks, and benefits, confidentiality, and the right to withdraw from the study (see Appendix A). At the end of reading this information, the participants will show their informed consent by means of a checkbox (see Appendix D for further explanation). After that, they will fill out a short demographic questionnaire, the Self-Compassion Scale - Short Form (SCS-SF) (see Appendix D, section c), the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) (see Appendix A), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey (MBI-SS) (see Appendix D, section c). Throughout the survey, it will take around 15-20 minutes to fill in the survey. Once the survey is completed, the participants will be presented with a Debrief Sheet (see Appendix C) that will further explain the study in greater detail and will include the links to the mental health support resources. If they need assistance, they should consult their GP/family doctor or local health clinic as we place the responsibility of referral on doctor. The process will be completely anonymous, and no information regarding the respondents’ identity shall be disclosed (unless explicitly permitted for any specific purpose). The participants are free to leave at any time prior to sending in their answers by closing the browser window. However, since the survey remains anonymous (with no information about the sender being disclosed), the participants will not be able to withdraw their data once submitted. Any data will be kept in a secure place as per the University of Wolverhampton and GDPR regulations. 2.5a Does your research involve children under 18 years of age? No 2.5b If yes, do you have an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate from the Criminal Records Bureau/Disclosure and Barring Service?No 2.6 Are participants in your study going to be recruited from a potentially vulnerable group? (When considering vulnerability, think about the circumstances of your participants, and also the relationship (e.g., power dynamic, perceived potential effects on care, or on student progression) between the participants and the researcher) Not applicable. The respondents will be university students who are 18 years old and above with the capacity to give informed consent. Although students might be stressed about their studies, it is not vulnerability according to RPU rules and BPS Code of Ethics (British Psychological Society, 2014). There are no power relationships between the participants and the researcher; the recruitment is conducted externally through the means of the public. Provisions of support resources are made to counter any form of distress. 2.7 How will your data be analysed? Data will be cleaned (outlier >3SD screening, normality Shapiro-Wilk test, listwise deletion <5%), will be organised (reverse-scored items, subscale composites), and analysed using SPSS v.28. To test H1, Pearson correlation will be used to test the negative relationship of self-compassion (SCS-SF total) and burnout (MBI-SS composite). Pearson correlation will be used to test H2 by investigating the negative relationship between Resilience (BRS total) and burnout (MBI-SS composite). Pearson correlation will be used to test H3 because it will examine the positive relationship between self-compassion and resilience. 2.8 Is permission to conduct your research required by an external agency? (e.g., NHS, other University, outside organisation) If yes, evidence of that permission must be submitted either with this form or sent on before ethical approval can be granted Not required 2.9 What, in your view, are the ethical considerations involved in this Project? (e.g., confidentiality, consent, risk, physical or psychological harm, etc.) Confidentiality (how will you ensure that any data received is treated confidentially): The data will be gathered anonymously, and no personal data will be stored in the form of names, email addresses, or IP addresses using the Qualtrics platform. All responses will be stored safely on a OneDrive account of the University of Wolverhampton that will be saved in a password format and will only be accessed by the researcher and their supervisor. The data will be presented in an aggregate form at the group level, where no individual participant will be identified in the results or publications. Consent (how will you ensure that your study receives and maintains fully informed consent): The participants will be given a clear and easy-to-understand Participant Information Sheet (Appendix A) indicating the purpose of the research, the process, time commitment (15-20 minutes), risks and benefits, and their ability to withdraw. As the Consent Form (Appendix B) outlines, informed consent will be gained digitally by means of a checkbox prior to survey measures access. The subjects are expected to be participative in signifying their comprehension and consent to go ahead. Participants under the age of 18 (how will you ensure that the participants recruited are over the age of 18): The survey will start with an eligibility screening question where the respondent would confirm that they are 1...