“We don’t know how to talk”: Adolescent meaning making and experiences of participating in research on violence in Romania, South Africa, and the Philippines

Background
Current evidence on adolescent participation in violence research has primarily measured distress, harm or upset using quantitative methods. There are relatively few studies which have employed qualitative methods to understand adolescent emotional experiences, and to articulate the experiences of participation from their own perspective.

Objective
This study aimed to assess adolescents' experiences of participating in research on violence in different contexts, namely Romania, South Africa, and the Philippines.

Methods
A purposive sample of adolescents (N = 53, 51 % female) were recruited from rural, urban, and peri-urban areas in Romania, the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, and Metro Manila, Philippines. Semi-structured one-on-one in-depth interviews and drawings sought adolescent perspectives on their experiences of participation, including the emotions they felt, and their perceptions of research on violence.

Results
Drawing on analysis of interviews and drawings, adolescents reported a layered emotional experience, ranging from sadness, anger, apprehension, and upset, to joy, relief, and laughter. Their emotional experiences were driven by participation as a relational encounter, both with the researchers involved, as well as with other children and young people they encountered. Adolescents emphasized participation as enabling disclosure of difficult experiences, and the creation of awareness of violence.

Conclusions
Adolescent perspectives of participation in research on violence are nuanced and encompass their lived experience as well as the fundamentally relational nature of participation. Adolescents experienced increased awareness of topics in violence and perceived research participation as enabling disclosure and possible help-seeking. Measures of participation impact developed along with adolescents, which reflect this complexity, are needed.