Ethical Considerations for Researchers’ Well-Being in the Development Process of Virtual Reality Scenarios for Child Emotional Maltreatment

This paper aims to reflect on ethical considerations for the well-being of researchers involved in the development of virtual reality (VR) scenarios for parents who emotionally maltreat their children. Ethical considerations, particularly potential emotional strain, arose throughout the VR scenario development, including topic selection and content creation. However, despite the significance of these issues, existing literature addressing ethical challenges in researching sensitive topics from the researcher’s perspective has focused solely on data collection or analysis, overlooking the well-being of researchers involved in the development phase. To uphold high ethical standards, research should recognize and safeguard the well-being and safety of researchers throughout the study. In this methodological paper, the focus is on how an interdisciplinary team of researchers from technical and human sciences addressed the above concerns in biweekly reflective discussions. In these meetings, the team members shared their experiences and emotional reactions related to the development of VR scenarios simulating parents who were emotionally abusive toward their child. These reflective discussions created a secure environment for the researchers to process complex ethical issues and find emotional support, which is crucial for protecting their mental well-being from the outset of the project. The discussions contributed to strengthening the team’s overall well-being. In conclusion, this paper highlights the necessity of regular reflective meetings during the development phase to enhance the ethical quality of data gathering and reporting. In addition, engaging in team-based reflection improves researcher well-being and fosters ethical awareness. Reflective discussions have the potential to prevent vicarious traumatization by strengthening resilience when exposed to sensitive topics and addressing complex societal challenges.