Academic Stress and Emotionally Demanding Research

Discussions about how we respond to workplace stress and the trauma we experience through casework (vicarious trauma) are essential for our mental health and well-being. While we, forensic science professionals, may be more cognizant of vicarious trauma and its effects on us and our colleagues, we run the risk of overlooking forensic science students and forensic science student researchers as an equally vulnerable community when we're unfamiliar with the stress environment students face when participating in sensitive research on top of their general academic obligations.

The concept of sensitive research and its effects on researchers have been discussed in the literature from at least the 1960s.^1-4 Contemporary knowledge and understanding of research touching on what Lee would describe as "private, stressful, or sacred" (p.4) information has developed into what Kumar and Cavallaro call Emotionally Demanding Research (EDR), a type of research known to require mental, social, and/or physical energy from researchers with the potential to cause adverse health or well-being effects.^2,5 

EDR can be experienced through four dimensions: research on sensitive issues, research similar to personal trauma previously experienced by the researcher, the researcher's experience of traumatic life events while conducting a study, and unexpected events that arise during research in what was previously not identified as a sensitive issue.^5,6 This expanded approach keeps Lee's idea of sensitive research and acknowledges that research impacts all participants, as advocated by Dickson-Swift et al.^2,4

Forensic science research topics can include things like victimization, animal abuse, physical violence, intimate partner violence, child abuse, sexual assault, death, and suicide. The spectrum of research encompasses direct interactions with victims or those affected by these topics to indirect interactions via data collection and processing. Researchers, as interviewees and as interviewers, have identified that while training has addressed protecting participants and data, little focus is placed on preparing researchers for dealing with the research process or the demands of the work.^5,7 "Dealing with the research process" can involve learning how to interview people, conducting interviews in other people's spaces, confronting emotions and signs of trauma from interactions, and working in new or uncomfortable environments. The "demands of the work" can involve prolonged periods reviewing photos/videos of traumatic injuries, listening to first-hand accounts of crime and traumatic events, or feeling the collective emotional weight their cases/data put on the researcher.

Forensic science students, many of whom are new to research landscapes and research landscapes like this, must navigate the landscape described above as well as the academic stressors involved with their education: exams, deadlines, pressure to perform, financial instability, uncertainty of the future, PI/mentor relationship, work-life balance, and/or overall course workload.^8,9 The physical and mental responses to academic stress like harmful/destructive thoughts, nervousness, feelings of hopelessness, guilt, and restlessness are now being multiplied by responses to EDR (which may also compound physical and mental effects if the students cannot place the extra stress with EDR because it is coming from a new and unfamiliar source).⁸ 

The mental and physical changes in students caused by academic stress and newfound EDR stress are like what forensic science professionals may be advised about when dealing with critical incident stress. Hammond and Brooks mention cognitive signs like confusion, disorientation, and memory loss; emotional signs like anger, grief, and depression; behavioral signs like changes in eating, withdrawal from others, and panic attacks; and physical signs like tachycardia, hypertension, and dizzy spells.¹⁰

We, as forensic science practitioners, educators, researchers, and mentors, can modify our research group preparation and policies to include better preparation for EDR. Burrell et al. provide a set of recommendations that are grounded in fostering an environment where research groups can communicate freely about how the research affects them and what that might mean for task allocation, working arrangements to provide social support for those who work best in teams and alternate arrangements for those who work best alone, and reframing conversations about identifying emotional limits as strengths for safety and protection.⁶ The social elements of the recommendations cover traditional Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) concerns about deviations from routine activities, as well as behavioral changes. Increased work time with others in a way that encourages check-ins and healthy interactions forms a community that can identify changes brought on by stress. Work modifications accomplish something in research not traditionally done with casework: reduction of exposure through performing other non-EDR tasks to prevent adverse effects.

As another academic year begins, we want to encourage forensic science faculty and practitioners who mentor student research to consider ways in which they can foster resiliency and support emotional well-being. 

References:

1. Dunn, L. (1991). Research Alert! Qualitative Research may be Hazardous to your Health! Qualitative Health Research, 1(3), 388–392. https://doi.org/10.1177/104973239100100307.
2. Lee, R.M. (1993). Doing research on sensitive topics. Sage Publications.
3. Farberow, N.L. (1963). Taboo Topics. New York: Atherton Press.
4. Dickson-Swift, V., James, E., and Liamputtong, P. (2008). Undertaking sensitive research in the health and social sciences: Managing boundaries, emotions and risks. Cambridge University Press.
5. Kumar, S., and Cavallaro, L. (2018). Researcher Self-Care in Emotionally Demanding Research: A Proposed Conceptual Framework. Qualitative Health Research, 28(4), 648–658. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732317746377.
6. Burrell, A., Costello, B., Hobson, W., Morton, R., Muñoz, C.G., Thomas, K., and Kloess, J.A. (2023). Being prepared for emotionally demanding research. Communications Psychology, 1(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-023-00008-x.
7. Johnson, B., and Clarke, J.M. (2003). Collecting Sensitive Data: The Impact on Researchers. Qualitative Health Research, 13(3), 421–434. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732302250340.
8. Iqra. (2024). A systematic — Review of academic stress intended to improve the educational journey of learners. Methods in Psychology, 11, 100163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metip.2024.100163.
9. Kumar, S., Singh, G., Kumar, A., and Giri, S.K. (2025). Stress Among Research Scholars: Causes, Coping Strategies and Implications for Policy Reform. Annals of Neurosciences, 09727531251315236. https://doi.org/10.1177/09727531251315236.
10. Hammond, J., and Brooks, J. (2001). The World Trade Center Attack: Helping the helpers: the role of critical incident stress management. Critical Care, 5(6), 315–317. https://doi.org/10.1186/cc1059.