"Not as bad as it could have been": assessing and mitigating harm during research interviews on sensitive topics.

Research on sensitive subjects such as perinatal loss places participants at particular risk for psychological distress. Although authors have discussed strategies for minimizing distress during interview research, less is known about the ways participants communicate and investigators respond to psychological pain incurred during the interview itself. Therefore, we describe both verbal and nonverbal indicators of distress during a phenomenological study on perinatal loss. We also offer suggestions for interviewers on ways to minimize participants' discomfort. We believe this account will help other researchers identify and reduce respondent distress during their own research.