Investigating the Effects of Trauma-Related Research on Well-Being

Abstract

Using an experimental design, we investigated the impact of participation in trauma-related research on well-being in a sample of 219 higher education students. We created five conditions that exposed participants to questions about life events. A sixth condition represented a control condition. Exposure conditions varied according to whether they contained yes/no questions about events that entailed stress, stigma, trauma, or sexual violation. We operationalized well-being by measuring positive and negative affect, state anxiety, and positive reactions to research. Across exposure conditions, participants reported low levels of negative affect and generally positive reactions immediately after participation. The most negative and least positive responses followed exposure conditions that contained questions about stressful events and sexual violation. We discuss implications of our findings for ethics review board practices.

Keywords:

• cost/benefit ratio
• ethics
• reactions to research
• trauma research

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For assistance with coding stimulus questions into experimental conditions, we thank Anabel Alvarez, Ph.D., Joanna Ball, Ph.D., Melanie Bliss, Ph.D., Adam Darnell, Ph.D., Lisa Goodman, Ph.D., Omar Guessous, M. A., Marni Grall, Ph.D., Duane House, Ph.D., Bethany Ketchen, Ph.D., Kelly Maltese, Ph.D., Fran Norris, Ph.D., Mayowa Obasaju, Ph.D., Julia Perilla, Ph.D., Jerris Raiford, Ph.D., Cathy Roche, Ph.D., and Leanne Valentine, Ph.D. We also thank Sharon G. Smith, Ph.D., whose doctoral dissertation sparked our interest in ethics research.

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