The DOI matches its Crossref record; 5 of the 6 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
How distressing is it to participate in medical research? A calibration study using an everyday events questionnaire
Open accessAbstract
Objectives: To investigate how distressing participating in medical research is perceived to be, compared to everyday events. Design: Anonymous questionnaire. Setting: Scotland and New Zealand. Participants: One hundred members of the Scottish general public, 94 University of Auckland students, 22 New Zealand Ministry of Health ethics committee members. Main outcome measures: Distress ratings made on a 0–10 scale for everyday events and common medical research procedures. Results: Both general population and student samples generally rated the distress caused by participating in various medical research procedures as low or very low. Most research procedures were rated less than the distress caused by not being able to find a car park at a supermarket. In contrast, the ethics committee members rated the distress caused by most of the medical research procedures at a significantly higher level than the ratings of the student and general population samples. Ethics committee members overestimated the distress caused by interview or questionnaire assessments ( M = 203.31%, SE = 11.42, 95% CI [179.79, 226.83]) more than medical testing for research ( M = 158.06%, SE = 12.33, 95% CI [132.66, 183.46], p = 0.04) and everyday events ( M = 133.10%, SE = 7.80, 95% CI [117.03, 149.16], p < 0.001). Conclusions: Common medical research procedures are not rated as particularly distressing by the general public, and ethics committees may be adopting an over-protective role when evaluating research applications that involve the use of questionnaire or survey methodology.
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There is a lack of published research for investigators to use in addressing these concerns.
“yet there is a lack of published research for investigators to use in addressing these concerns (Petrie et al. 2013).”
From Does asking about suicide and related behaviours induce suicidal ideation? What is the evidence? (2014) · cites this paper as Petrie et al. 2013
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Participant distress in psychiatric research: a systematic review
Jorm, A. F., Kelly, C. M., & Morgan, A. (2007) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291706009779 · Cited by 192 · cited 1×
“There is also a reassuring review of psychiatric research, which indicates that only a small proportion of participants become distressed following participation in such research, and positive effects are more likely.(4) However, there is very little information available on how individuals perceive the distress cause…”
BackgroundInfluentialThe experience of participating in bereavement research: stressful or therapeutic?
Cook, A., & Bosley, G. M. (1995) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481189508252722 · Cited by 109
Scott, D., Boyle, F., Bain, C. J., & Valery, P. (2002) · Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2002.tb04921.x · Cited by 80
Short-term effects of research participation on college men.
Daugherty, T. K., & Lawrence, J. W. (1996) · The Journal of psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980.1996.9914989 · Cited by 17
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Does asking about suicide and related behaviours induce suicidal ideation? What is the evidence?
Dazzi, T., Gribble, R., Wessely, S., & Fear, N. T. (2014) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291714001299 · Cited by 368
“Ethics committees require evidence that the proposed study will not cause participant distress or suicidal ideation (Lakeman & Fitzgerald, 2009) yet there is a lack of published research for investigators to use in addressing these concerns (Petrie et al. 2013).”
BackgroundMacapagal, K. R., Coventry, R., Arbeit, M. R., Fisher, C. B., & Mustanski, B. S. (2016) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-016-0784-5 · Cited by 143
“AMinimal Risk Assessment informed by Petrie et al. (2013) wasdevelopedby the study teamand includedat theendof the baseline survey.”
Man, M.-S., Rick, J., & Bower, P. (2015) · Trials · doi:10.1186/s13063-015-0820-0 · Cited by 44
“Moreover, members of the public and members of ethics committees often have different views on what is of concern with regard to a trial and its procedures [11].”
BackgroundMustanski, B., Coventry, R., Macapagal, K., Arbeit, M. R., & Fisher, C. (2017) · Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · doi:10.1363/psrh.12027 · Cited by 41
Verster, J., van de Loo, A. J., Adams, S., Stock, A., Benson, S., Scholey, A., Alford, C., & Bruce, G. (2019) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm8122160 · Cited by 40
“[33] investigated the stress and pressure/imposition experienced by RCT participants for a variety of study-related handlings (e.”
BackgroundResultMacapagal, K., Bettin, E., Matson, M., Kraus, A., Fisher, C., & Mustanski, B. (2019) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.10.293 · Cited by 11
Matson, M., Macapagal, K. R., Kraus, A., Coventry, R., Bettin, E., Fisher, C. B., & Mustanski, B. S. (2019) · Sexuality Research and Social Policy · doi:10.1007/s13178-018-0372-7 · Cited by 12
Nyberg, T., Myrberg, I. H., Omérov, P., Steineck, G., & Nyberg, U. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164091 · Cited by 8
Reactions to Sexual, Substance Use, and Mental Health Surveys Among Rural Sexual Minority Men
Montemayor, B., & Owens, C. (2025) · Health Education & Behavior · doi:10.1177/10901981251336231 · Cited by 5
“…that sexual, substance, and mental health survey questions elicit distress and discomfort among marginalized communities (Peter & Friedland, 2017; Petrie et al., 2013), leading them to classify some health survey research as exceeding the minimal risk standard in human subjects research (U.S.…”
Montemayor, B., DeLeon, J., & Owens, C. (2025) · Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics · doi:10.1177/15562646251347580 · Cited by 4
“Our data supports the argument that online survey research on sexual behaviors, substance use, and mental health could meet the CFR criteria for minimal risk, thus challenging the opinions and practices of most IRB members (Petrie et al., 2013).”
InfluentialThe relationship between self-reported immune fitness and salivary immune biomarker concentrations
Išerić, E., Hendriksen, P., Ulijn, G. A., Zuurveld, M., van de Loo, A. J., Garssen, J., & Verster, J. (2025) · Immunologic research · doi:10.1007/s12026-025-09654-1 · Cited by 2
“Moreover, clinical trial participants generally prefer non-invasive procedures (e.g., saliva collection) over invasive methods such as a blood sampling [11].”
Lamont, J. M., Flynn, A. R., & Stewart, S. M. (2024) · International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s12529-024-10341-y · Cited by 1
“This scale was based upon similar items to those measuring discomfort with medical events in both undergraduate students and the general population [39].”
Suicide and Suicidal Tendency in Primary Care Setting; Review Article
Algaows, F. S., Alhussain, S., Damanhori, J., Alzahrani Amjad Ahmed, H., Alghamdi, A. A., Alshardan, A. M., Aldakhil, S. E., Majrashi, S. M., Anazi, S. A., Alzahrani, M. K. M., et al. (2021) · Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International · doi:10.9734/jpri/2021/v33i58a34090
“Ethics committees require evidence that the proposed study will not cause participant distress or suicidal ideation [5] yet there is a lack of published research for investigators to use in addressing these concerns [6].”
BackgroundGaining approvals for mental health research in the NHS
Cooper, M., Eyre, O., Doherty, J. L., & Jones, R. (2016) · doi:10.1192/apt.bp.114.014035
Metadata
- Authors
- Petrie, K. J., Faasse, K., Notman, T. A., & O'Carroll, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- University of Stirling (GB)
- Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK
- Corresponding author
- Petrie, Keith J
- Venue
- JRSM Short Reports
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2013-10-01
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 2042533313493271-2042533313493271
- ISSN
- 2042-5333 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3831865
- OpenAlex
- W2162444079
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 1.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- JRSM Short Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics in Clinical Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
- Keywords
- daily life events, perceived distress, ethics committees, public perception of research, research ethics review
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