Rethinking Sexual Trauma Research: University Students Reactions to Participating in a Sexual Trauma Survey

TL;DR

This study shows that university students, even those with sexual trauma experiences, generally have positive reactions when participating in sexual trauma surveys.

Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence that participating in sexual trauma research does not cause lasting distress among university students.

Findings

Participating in sexual trauma research was a positive experience for most students.

Students who experienced sexual trauma did not report negative emotional reactions to the study.

Immediate distress from the study was short-lived and not severe.

Abstract

The consistently high prevalence of unwanted sexual experiences (USEs) on university campuses has led to increasing calls for evidence-based solutions to inform policies, training, and intervention development. However, Research Ethics Committees are often hesitant to approve sexual trauma research due to beliefs that asking participants about traumatic experiences will cause extreme distress. Conversely, previous literature has found that many participants who have experienced sexual trauma report positive reactions following their participation in such research. Studies have found that while immediate negative emotional reactions are common, this distress is short-term (e.g., lasting only minutes or hours after participation). The present study assessed 469 Northern Irish university students’ experiences of participating in research addressing USEs. The findings indicated that participating in USE research was a positive experience for participants, regardless of victimization status. Further, participants who reported a victimization experience did not report experiencing a negative emotional reaction to participating in the study. This article considers the ethics of conducting sexual trauma research among university students, with reference to common ethical concerns that can be addressed as part of the research process.

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