A graduate student who grew up in Yorkton is seeking help with her research from local individuals aged 18-25.
For her Master's degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Regina, Nicole Alberts is studying the ways in which the health anxiety of young adults is influenced by having a seriously ill parent.
Health anxiety is broadly defined as worry or concern over one's health; it exists on a spectrum covering everything between the normal worry experienced by most people and the obsessive concern over minor symptoms that torments a hypochondriac.
"There's a bit of research that has shown that having a parent with a serious medical illness can place children at an increased risk for psychological distress, but there has been pretty much no research on whether having an ill parent would increase someone's health anxiety," explains Alberts. "And there's actually been even less research that looks specifically at young adults."
Alberts believes that her research, carried out under the supervision of Dr. Heather Hadjistavropoulos, could have important implications.
"We're hoping that it's going to help us understand more about [health anxiety] in general, but also more about how it develops and starts out so that we can intervene and make sure it doesn't get to those extreme levels."
The grad student is seeking the participation of anyone between the ages of 18 and 25, but in particular young people with an ill parent. Cancer, multiple sclerosis, irritable bowel disease, heart disease, or any other serious illnesses all fall within the study's scope. The illness can have been diagnosed at any time with any level of severity.
Participation in the study means completing a series of confidential online questionnaires. The time commitment required is about 30-45 minutes.
Alberts hopes that Yorkton residents will be interested in the opportunity to participate in psychological research.
"A lot of the times the research we do here doesn't get past Regina much, so I think it's a good idea to keep people in the know about what's going on."
The survey can be accessed at http://www.surveymonkey.com/phealth.
