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Reactions to Dating Violence Research: Do Difficulties with Distress Tolerance Increase Negative Reactions?

  • Research on Perpetrators and Victims of Family Violence
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Abstract

Recent research has begun to examine whether participants in dating violence studies perceive any benefit from the research and/or experience emotional distress as a result of having participated. Such information is important for Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and researchers in determining ethical and appropriate protections for participants. In the current study, we examined participants’ reactions to answering questions on dating violence victimization and perpetration utilizing a sample of female college students (N = 282). We also examined whether distress tolerance was associated with research reactions and moderated the relation between reports of victimization/perpetration and negative emotional reactions to the research. Findings demonstrated that negative emotional reactions to the research did not differ between individuals with or without previous dating violence. Further, distress tolerance had a main effect, but not a moderating effect, on negative emotional reactions to research participation. Implications of these findings for future research and IRBs are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported, in part, by grants F31AA020131 and K24AA019707 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) awarded to the first and last authors, respectively. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIAAA or the National Institutes of Health.

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Correspondence to Ryan C. Shorey.

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Shorey, R.C., Febres, J., Brasfield, H. et al. Reactions to Dating Violence Research: Do Difficulties with Distress Tolerance Increase Negative Reactions?. J Fam Viol 28, 479–487 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-013-9519-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-013-9519-8

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