Informed Consent Form

Informed Consent

Title: Tier One Performance Screen (TOPS) Longitudinal Validation and Adaptive Vocational Interest Diagnostic (AVID) Validation of Soldiers in Alaska

Purpose of the research: This research project is being conducted by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI). The purposes of this research are: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS) currently administered to Army applicants; (2) to help develop and evaluate measures for selecting new Soldiers into the Army and helping them choose the MOS in which they will be most successful; (3) to examine the attitudes, behaviors, and performance of Soldiers in Alaska; and (4) to investigate potential differences between Soldiers who elect Alaska as their first duty station (i.e., Option 20) and Soldiers who are assigned to Alaska (i.e., Non-Option 20).

What you will be asked to do in this research: You are being asked to complete an assessment of your attitudes, interests, performance, Army experiences, and/or job knowledge. You will also be asked to complete performance ratings of your peers. In addition, your supervisor and peers may provide ratings of your performance. We are collecting data from Soldiers throughout their Army career, so you may be asked to complete similar measures in the future.

The assessment will include some questions that are sensitive or personal in nature, including questions about your mental and physical health and questions about whether you have had thoughts about suicide.

Voluntary participation: Your participation is voluntary; refusal to participate or discontinuing participation at any time will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. De-identified data may be used for future approved studies or shared with other investigators for use in future approved studies without additional informed consent. If you choose not to participate, no data will be collected or retained on you during this research; you may return to your normal duties or sit quietly for the remainder of the session.

Confidentiality: We will keep your information as confidential as possible, except for certain information that we must report for legal or ethical reasons, such as intent to hurt yourself or others (see the “limits of confidentiality” section below for details). We will NOT include your name, the name of your unit, or any other personally identifiable information in any reports, publications, or presentations. All data will be stored in an encrypted database on a secure military server.

We have asked you to log into the assessment using a specified ID number and provide your full name and date of birth. This information is needed to allow your current responses to be linked to your supervisor's and peers’ assessments, items in other phases of the research, and archived data provided by authorized Army agencies for the purpose of this research (e.g., training records and information about your performance/continuance in the Army). This linkage is necessary in order for us to evaluate the effectiveness of the selection measures. Once all of the needed information is linked together for analysis, ARI will safeguard your data by dropping any personal identifiers and labeling your data with a random code. The key that links the code to your name will be stored separately in a secure file to reduce the risk of a data breach. The only people who will have access to the key are approved researchers and authorized personnel from DoD regulatory agencies responsible for overseeing the protection of human subjects in research.

Limits of Confidentiality: As indicated above, we cannot provide confidentiality to a participant regarding responses involving criminal activity/behavior or responses indicating that you may pose a threat to yourself or others. We are required to inform your company commander if any of your responses during this assessment indicate that you may be thinking about harming yourself or others. It will then be up to your company commander to decide what to do, so we cannot make any guarantees about whether your company commander will or will not reach out to you. If you are in need of assistance, please see the list of resources provided by the researchers.

Time required: Up to 90 minutes.

Risks: Some of the questions are personal and could make you feel uncomfortable or upset. You may skip any questions you don’t want to answer and may stop participating at any time.

If we are required to notify your company commander because your responses indicate that you may be thinking about harming yourself or others, your company commander may decide to refer you for a command-directed evaluation by a mental healthcare provider. In accordance with DoDI 3216.02 (Protection of Human Subjects and Adherence to Ethical Standards in DoD-Conducted and Supported Research), we are required to inform you that there are potential risks for the revocation of clearance, credentials, or other privileged access or duty.

There is a small risk that data could accidentally be disclosed, which could allow other people to see your responses and could potentially affect how you or the individuals you rated are perceived. However, we are taking steps to reduce this risk and protect your information.

Benefits: There are no direct benefits to you as a result of participating in this research. Your responses will help to develop measures that can be used to select applicants who are likely to perform well as Soldiers, fit well in the Army's culture, demonstrate leadership potential for higher ranks, and pursue a long-term Army career.

Compensation: No compensation is provided for your participation.

Whom to contact if you have questions about the research: You should send your questions to Dr. Krystal Roach at [email protected]. Reference project name: Option 20 Assessment.

Whom to contact about your rights in the research: You should send your questions to the ARI Human Research Protection Program at [email protected]. Reference project name: Option 20 Assessment.

Consent: If you agree to participate, please so indicate by selecting the box below. If you do not agree, you may end the session now. You must be 18 years or older to participate.

• I AGREE to participate and I am 18 or older

• I do not agree to participate or I am under 18

ebm ARI IRB #17-36/38 CR8 21DEC2023

Expires 13JUN2024