Consent:
You are being invited to participate in a research study titled the, “THC in AZ Study”. This study is being conducted by Kyle N. Winfree, Ph.D. from Northern Arizona University.
The purpose of this research study is to understand the extent to which cannabis use is linked to health habits (like exercise and sleep) and health problems (such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stress) over a 6-month study period. If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete an online survey daily for the next 8 days, for 3 days in three months from now, and for 3 days six months from now. Some questions will ask about your current health status including your mental health (e.g., anxiety and depression), current health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, sleep), stress, past/current alcohol and drug use. Most surveys will take 20 minutes or less.
If you have a wearable activity monitor (such as a Fitbit), you may be invited to share your data with the research team. To share, you will be sent an invite that authorizes an NAU server to collect your activity data, such as steps per minute, heart rate, and related each day that you are in the study.
Benefits and Compensation
Completion of the surveys and sharing of wearable data will make you eligible for a gift card. You will be compensated with a $10 gift card after you complete the surveys today, $70 in gift cards once you complete seven days of surveys over the next week, $30 after you complete all three days of surveys at the three month mark, and another $30 after you complete all three days of surveys at the six month mark. Additionally, you may be eligible for $20 in gift cards if you share your wearable device data for the past few weeks and this coming week, $20 again if you share your data for the next three months, and finally $20 more if you share your data for the next six months. To be eligible for these gift cards, you must complete all surveys. This schedule is shown here:
| When will the surveys be sent? | What will the questions be about? | About how long will they take? | What will your compensation be? |
| Day 0 – Today | Demographics such as gender, education, height, and weight. Cannabis use for the past week. Your feelings and thoughts during the past month. | 26 minutes | $10 gift card for 100% completion of today’s surveys |
| Day 1 – Tomorrow | Your current health. Your cannabis use on day 1 | 14 minutes | |
| Day 2 | Aggression. Your cannabis use on day 2 | 21 minutes | |
| Day 3 | Your cannabis use on this day. | 6 minutes | |
| Day 4 | Your sleep. Your cannabis use on this day. | 16 minutes | |
| Day 5 | Your physical activity. Your cannabis use on this day. | 21 minutes | |
| Day 6 | Your cannabis use on this day. | 6 minutes | |
| Day 7 | Other substance use. Your cannabis use on this day. | 16 minutes | $70 for 100% completion of days 1 through 7. |
| No Surveys for 3 Months | |||
| Day 8 | Cannabis use for the past week. Your feelings and thoughts during the past month. | 12 minutes | |
| Day 9 | Your sleep. Your cannabis use on this day. | 16 minutes | |
| Day 10 | Your physical activities. Your cannabis use on this day. | 21 minutes | $30 for 100% completion of days 8 through 10 |
| No Surveys for 3 Months | |||
| Day 11 | Cannabis use for the past week. Your feelings and thoughts during the past month. | 12 minutes | |
| Day 12 | Your sleep. Your cannabis use on this day. | 16 minutes | |
| Day 13 | Your physical activities. Your cannabis use on this day. | 21 minutes | $30 for 100% completion of days 11 through 13 |
If you have and use a Fitbit wearable activity monitor, you may be invited to participate in the Wearables sub study. You may be eligible for $20 of gift cards for each three month period of data that you share, starting with the three months before today (Fitbit retains and can share this data on your behalf). This schedule is shown here:
| When will the surveys be sent? | What is required of you? | About how long will they take? | What will your compensation be? |
| Day 0 – Today | Report the kind of wearable activity monitor that you have and use. Continue to wear your Fitbit as you normally do. | In survey | |
| Day 7 | Authorize WearWare access to your Fitbit data after receiving the invite email. | 3 minutes | $20 gift card for wearing your Fitbit >70% of the time for previous 3 months. |
| 3 months of wearing your Fitbit | |||
| Day 10 | Continue to wear your Fitbit as you normally do. | 0 minutes | $20 gift card for wearing your Fitbit >70% of the time for previous 3 months. |
| 3 months of wearing your Fitbit | |||
| Day 13 | Continue to wear your Fitbit as you normally do. | 0 minutes | $20 gift card for wearing your Fitbit >70% of the time for previous 3 months. |
You may also derive a sense of satisfaction that your participation is contributing to the scientific knowledge about cannabis use and health. As with any online related research the risk of a breach of confidentiality is always possible. To the best of our ability, your answers in this study will remain confidential. To minimize these risks, all identifiable study data will be securely maintained by NAU on NAU servers. All identifiable study data will be destroyed once the study is complete. De-identified data will be stored on secure servers at NAU and will be archived when the study is complete. All data will be analyzed in aggregate (summary) form; no individual data will be used for analyses, publications, or presentations.
To remain in the study, you will be expected to complete each survey within one week of receiving the survey link.
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and you can withdraw at any time. If you choose not to participate it will not affect your relationship with Northern Arizona University or result in any other penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.
If you have questions about this project or if you have a research-related problem, you may contact the researcher(s), Kyle N. Winfree, PhD at winfreelab@nau.edu. If you have any questions concerning your rights as a research subject, you may contact Northern Arizona University IRB Office at irb@nau.edu or (928) 523-9551.
By consenting to participate in this study, you affirm that: you are at least 21 years of age; you use cannabis at least once per month; you have internet access to complete the surveys; and you agree that we can use your cannabis use and survey data in the research project described above.By consenting to participate in this study, I give permission to the Winfree Lab to send me occasional emails related to this study. Some of these emails will include links to the surveys.