Adolescent distress in traumatic stress research: Data from the National Survey of Adolescents‐Replication

Abstract

Small numbers of adults report distress in response to traumatic stress surveys. Less is known about adolescent research participants. We examined distress in response to a survey on traumatic stress using data from the National Survey of Adolescents-Replication, a nationally representative sample of 3,614 youth aged 12-17 years. Although 204 (5.7%) adolescents found some questions distressing, only 8 (0.2%) remained upset at the end of the interview, and 2 (<0.1%) wished to speak to a counselor. Adolescents reporting traumatic experiences or mental health problems were significantly more likely to report distress compared to those not endorsing such problems. Significantly more girls (7.5%) reported distress than boys (3.9%). Findings suggest that survey questions about trauma pose minimal risk to adolescents.