For schools

INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS PARTICIPATING IN THE DWELL STUDY

  • Part of a larger project funded by the European Research Council (ERC)
  • Goal is to identify youth who are most susceptible to the adverse effects of victimization, and to highlight healthy strategies for seeking social support
  • Includes a pilot study (already on-going – Spring 2025) and the main study (taking place Fall 2025 – Spring 2026; consisting of several subcomponents)

What is it about?

The DWELL study will investigate different types of negative consequences that can occur from being victimized, and, importantly, which types of coping strategies can best mitigate these consequences. Although seeking support or help from others is generally considered to be a good thing, some ways of support seeking may inadvertently exacerbate negative feelings. In particular, DWELL focuses on how youth can seek support from friends or parents in ways that can help not hurt. The study will produce new and important information on healthy coping strategies and how to help mitigate the long-term consequences of victimization (or other stressors).

What happens in the study?

The DWELL study will last one academic year (2025-2026), with the pilot study already taking place in Spring 2025.

DWELL SURVEY. Survey responses will be collected from students three times during the 2025–2026 academic year using an online survey. The parental consents will be collected in August with the school’s help (Wilma messages will be sent to parents). Survey responses will be made via the secure Wellu application. 

DWELL DAILY. Students in grades 7–9 who participate in DWELL SURVEY will also be eligible to participate in DWELL DAILY. DWELL DAILY aims to examine how students cope with daily stressors, such as victimization. Participating students will complete a few minute survey in the research app in the evening. The questionnaires include questions about their daily mood, daily experiences (including possible victimization experiences), social interactions and whether they discussed any problems or stressors with a friend or parent. Thus, participation in DWELL DAILY will occur outside of school hours; however, instructions for participation (including application installation) will occur with the help of teachers. The daily diary study will take place using the secure Avicenna application. The application’s privacy notice can be found here.

TOGETHER. After wave 1 of DWELL SURVEY, a small subsample of participants will be randomly selected to be invited to participate in the TOGETHER subproject. TOGETHER aims to examine how friends communicate about their feelings/problems, as well as how they help each other problem-solve and/or use other coping strategies. Students will participate with one of their friends (who has also agreed to participate). Outside of school hours, the students will be participate in an online video call together (approximately 30 minutes) and be asked to talk to each other about a problem as they normally would. The parental consents for TOGETHER will be collected directly from parents via email in November. Participation in TOGETHER will occur outside school hours and doesn’t require any work from schools. 

Below you can find a timeline of DWELL:

June/August: providing name lists of students
August: collecting parental consents for DWELL SURVEY and DWELL DAILY
October: Wave 1 of DWELL SURVEY  
January: Wave 2 of DWELL SURVEY, DWELL DAILY (helping students with installing the Avicenna application at school).
April: Wave 3 of DWELL SURVEY  

January–May: TOGETHER online video calls (no work required from schools)