Navigating distress: Exploring factors affecting adolescent girls' wellbeing during and after a violence-focused survey in Maharashtra, India

Background: Ensuring the emotional wellbeing of participants in violence-focused research is a paramount ethical requirement. While previous research suggests that most participants in violence-focused studies do not report harmful consequences, little is known about the experiences of adolescent participants in low- and middle-income countries. Objective: This study, conducted in Maharashtra, India, aims at assessing how participant, contextual, and interviewer characteristics affect the level of distress that adolescent girls experience after participation in a violence survey. Methods: A total of 3049 13–18-year-old girls were interviewed on their experiences of family and intimate partner violence. Following the interview, both girls and interviewers completed a 5-item questionnaire on perceived participant distress. Linear regression analyses were conducted to identify possible correlates of girls' distress. Results: Less than 10 % of participants reported feelings of distress upon completion of the interview. Higher levels of interviewers' empathy were significantly associated with decreased levels of participants' distress (standardised beta: −0.25, p < 0.001). Reported distress was also lower if girls had opted for an audio- and mobile-assisted self-interview (ACASI) format (standardised beta: −0.05, p < 0.01) and if the interview was conducted by someone older (standardised beta: −0.22, p < 0.001). Conversely, if interviews were conducted in participants' homes and by interviewers with higher education levels, reported distress was significantly higher (standardised beta: 0.06, p < 0.01 and 0.12, p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that incorporating empathetic interviewing and trust-building techniques into interviewer training, offering ACASI interviews, and choosing interview locations that ensure confidentiality can help protect the wellbeing of participants in violence research.