Males' Reactions to Participating in Research on Dating Violence Victimization and Childhood Abuse.

Childhood abuse and dating violence victimization are prevalent and devastating problems. While there has been an abundance of research on these topics in recent years, researchers and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) often struggle with determining whether asking respondents questions on previous violence will result in increased emotional distress or other negative research outcomes. Empirical data is therefore needed that examines the research reactions of individuals who participate in research on childhood abuse and dating violence. The current study examined this topic among a sample of male college students (N = 193). Results showed that victims of childhood sexual abuse had more negative emotional reactions and victims of physical dating violence had more negative perceived drawbacks to research participation than non-victims. However, victims and non-victims did not differ on positive research reactions. These findings suggest that there are few differences between victims and non-victims on research reactions.