Hello,
My name is Devin Shelton, a doctoral student at The School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute. I am conducting research under the supervision of my supervisor, Dr. Kristina Brown, and would greatly appreciate your participation. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the experiences and impact of fibromyalgia diagnosed in men on relationship satisfaction. If you choose to participate, you will be asked to engage in an interview that will last no longer than two hours. This interview will consist of nine open-ended questions about your experiences with fibromyalgia and how fibromyalgia may influence your relationship. To protect your privacy, you will also be asked to assign yourself a name of your choice that will be included in the transcription and write-up of the research.
If you decide that you would like to participate in this study, please contact me at your earliest convenience. Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or my supervisor.
Side Note: I hope this message does not appear to be intrusive. I had been married to a man diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I am very aware of the experiences I had and how little support we both received due to the lack of knowledge and awareness of the psychological community regarding this diagnosis (particularly in men). My hope is to assist in broadening the knowledge-base about fibroymyalgia in men and relationship satisfaction in order to better serve couples. For the purposes of this particular study, I will only be interviewing females who live with males diagnosed with fibromyalgia. My goal is to later expand on this study with further research.
Thank you for your consideration,
Devin R. Shelton, MA
Researcher
School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute
2885 West Battlefield Street
Springfield, Missouri 65807
Email: dshelton@forest.edu
870-215-6756
Kristina S. Brown, PhD, LMFT
Dissertation Research Chair
School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute
2885 West Battlefield Street
Springfield, Missouri 65807
Email: kbrown@forest.edu
417-823-3435