Exploring moral distress in research students in a paediatric humanitarian research setting: a qualitative study from the Mavrovouni closed controlled access center, Lesvos, Greece

Moral distress refers to the emotional distress experienced when an individual’s moral or ethical beliefs are violated. This concept has been widely studied in a number of disciplines, but limited attention has been given to the moral distress experienced by researchers in the humanitarian setting. This paper aims to explore the ethical challenges and resulting moral distress faced by paediatric humanitarian research students in the Mavrovouni Closed Controlled Access Center, Lesvos, Greece. Based on a qualitative approach, we conducted three ethics support workshops with 5 to 10 participants each, in which they were invited to discuss the moral dilemmas they were experiencing in their research work. Sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed; transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Seven main themes were developed: community and system-level considerations, witnessing and moral responsibility, conflicting duties, participant benefit misconception, coping strategies, cultural aspects, and theories of change. These themes highlight the diverse ethical dilemmas research students face in this field. The results of this study will contribute to the development of support systems for researchers working in sensitive data collection and promote a more sustainable and healthy research practice.