Adolescents’ and Adults’ Experiences of Being Surveyed About Violence and Abuse: A Systematic Review of Harms, Benefits, and Regrets

The neuroscience and psychological literatures suggest that talking about previous violence and abuse may not only be beneficial, as previously believed, but may also be associated with risks. Thus, studies on such topics introduce ethical questions regarding the risk-benefit ratio of sensitive research. We performed a systematic review of participants' experiences related to sensitive research and compared consequent harms, benefits, and regrets among victims and nonvictims of abuse. Thirty studies were included (4 adolescent and 26 adult studies). In adolescent studies, 3% to 37% of participants (median: 6%) reported harms, but none of these studies measured benefits or regrets. Among adults, 4% to 50% (median: 25%) reported harms, 23% to 100% (median: 92%) reported benefits, and 1% to 6% (median: 2%) reported regrets. Our results suggest that the risk-benefit ratio related to sensitive research is not unfavorable, but there are gaps in the evidence among adolescents.