Medical Research Foundation and Medical Research Council
The study is coordinated by King’s College London, which is the leading United Kingdom (hereafter “UK”) centre of excellence for mental health research. King’s College London is independent of the NHS and our work has helped shape government policy towards adolescents, young adults and their families. Our research is conducted within the King’s College London governance framework, which ensures that our work is carried out to high scientific and ethical standards.
King’s College London is the lead sponsor and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust is the co-sponsor for this study based in the UK. King’s College London will act as the data controller for this study, which means that King’s College London is responsible for ensuring your information is stored and used properly. We will be using information you provide through our study app (or if not using the app, through the online survey platform, Qualtrics), your social media accounts and your health records to undertake this study.
Social media platforms (for example, Instagram) are popular among young people and many young people own a smartphone. Although this technology is useful, there is concern about its effect on mental health and wellbeing. For example, studies have found that night-time use is related to poor sleep as well as mood changes. However, we don’t know exactly how social media and smartphone use can impact on mental health, including self-harm, nor do we know how usage can change in association with changes in mental health.
We are engaging with young people who have accessed mental health services in South-East London. We want to understand how social media and smartphone use are associated with changes in mental health and wellbeing in young people over the course of a year. Everyone is different which is why it’s important for us to involve young people with a range of experiences to ensure our study best represents everyone. The information from this study will help us learn when and what type of support would be useful for young people who are experiencing difficulties.
We are interested in collecting information about how you use social media and your smartphone, and your mental health and wellbeing. We will use this information to assess the impact of smartphone and social media use on mental health and wellbeing in young people.
Once the study is complete, we will seek to publish the findings in scientific journals and present them at conferences. We will seek to publicise the findings in mental health communities, for example by making them available for relevant newsletters and websites. A summary of the findings will be made available from the study website. Outputs from the study will contain only anonymous, aggregated data (e.g. percentages and averages) presented as tables and figures. Outputs from the study will not contain any information on individual participants.
King’s College London will keep identifiable information about you for 10 years after the study has finished to enable us to answer our research questions. If in 10 years no future analyses are planned, all the data we hold will be securely destroyed.
We use third parties (Google Firebase and Qualtrics) to process some of your personal information (collected through our study app and online questionnaires) on our behalf. When we allow them access to your information, we do not permit them to use it for their own purposes. We will not share your personal information with any external organisations. On rare occasions, we may be required or permitted to share personal information by law. For example, if we are aware of a serious risk to you or to someone else, in which case we may need to share this information with the relevant authorities.
Any information that could identify you is held securely with strict arrangements about who can access the information. All information will be held securely on encrypted servers. Access to all information will be strictly limited to authorised members of the study team. The data files used for analysis by the study team will be de-identified, meaning we remove all names, and other identifiable information (e.g. NHS numbers). This information will be stored separately from the analysis files, and password protected and encrypted. The information collected in this study will only be used for the purpose of research. It will not be used to make decisions about future services available to you, such as insurance.
The lawful basis for processing this information is:
Article 6(1.e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
The special condition category is article 9(2)(j) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.
You can contact us by email at [email protected] for further information.
Yes, please contact the study coordinator, Dr Amanda Bye ([email protected]), who will remove/delete your data.
You have the right to see the information we hold about you. If you would like to access your information, please contact the KCL Data Protection Officer:
Mr Albert Chan, Assistant Director of Business Assurance, Information Compliance team, King's College London, Waterloo Campus Room 5.20, James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8WA; or by email: [email protected]
Article 21 of the GDPR gives individuals the right to object to the processing of their personal data. If you wish to object to your personal data being processed, please email your reason(s) to the KCL Data Protection Officer:
Mr Albert Chan, Assistant Director of Business Assurance, Information Compliance team, King's College London, Waterloo Campus Room 5.20, James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8WA; or by email: [email protected]
Objections will be responded to without undue delay and within one month of receipt.
If you have a complaint about how we have handled your (or your child’s) personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data in a way that is not lawful, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Our Data Protection Officer is Mr Albert Chan and you can contact him using the following details:
Mr Albert Chan, Assistant Director of Business Assurance, Information Compliance team, King's College London, Waterloo Campus Room 5.20, James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8WA; or by email: [email protected]
We will not make the participant data publicly available because we need to protect the confidentiality and security of the individual cohort members.
For general enquiries relating to the study or to find out more about how we use your information, please contact us at [email protected].
Our Privacy Notices are regularly reviewed and updated.
Last reviewed: 15/09/2021; Last updated: 7/11/2021; Updated by: Dr Amanda Bye