Best questions for ex-cult member survey about religious trauma symptoms

Here are some of the best questions for an ex-cult member survey about religious trauma symptoms, plus practical tips for building your questionnaire. If you want to generate a comprehensive survey in seconds, you can use Specific to build one instantly.

Best open-ended questions for ex-cult member surveys

Open-ended questions help ex-cult members share their experiences in their own words—crucial for understanding the varied ways religious trauma impacts people. Research shows that 83% of former cultists report anxiety, 76% feel anger toward the leader, and a majority experience profound distress after leaving their group. Hearing these stories in detail gives context to the statistics and helps design better mental health support. [1]

Here are 10 open-ended questions that work well for ex-cult member surveys about religious trauma symptoms:

1. Can you describe your emotional state after leaving your group?

2. What specific experiences within the group do you think contributed most to your feelings of trauma or distress?

3. How have your day-to-day relationships changed since leaving?

4. Have you noticed any changes in your sense of self-worth or confidence since your departure?

5. What coping strategies have you found helpful (or unhelpful) in managing your feelings about leaving?

6. Can you share a moment since leaving where past group teachings affected your decisions or emotions?

7. In what ways has your worldview or spirituality shifted since you left?

8. What kind of support (if any) have you sought or received—for example, from friends, family, or professionals?

9. Are there any lingering beliefs or fears from your time in the group that still influence your thoughts or behaviors?

10. What would you like others (therapists, family, the public) to understand about the mental health challenges ex-cult members face?

Best single-select multiple-choice questions to quantify experiences

Single-select multiple-choice questions shine when you need to quantify symptoms, spot trends, or kick off a meaningful conversation. They can lower the barrier for respondents—sometimes it’s easier to choose an option than to compose a detailed answer, especially when feelings are complex. Quantifiable data is especially valuable when paired with open-ended follow-ups. For context: Up to 75% of ex-cult members experience depression, 68% report loneliness, 68% have anger, and 66% feel disoriented after leaving. [2]

Question: Which of the following emotions have you experienced most strongly since leaving the group?

• Anxiety

• Anger

• Loneliness

• Despair

• Other

Question: Since leaving, how often have you felt disoriented or unsure of your identity?

• Never

• Sometimes

• Often

• Almost always

Question: Have you sought professional help for emotional or psychological challenges since your departure?

• Yes

• No

• Considering it

When to follow up with "why?" Open with a structured question to break the ice, then ask "why"—especially if their answer seems surface-level or needs clarification. Asking "Why did you feel most anxious after leaving?" or "Can you share what made you consider professional help?" deepens the conversation, surfaces personal context, and guides thoughtful interventions.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? If you’re unsure whether your options cover every relevant experience, add "Other" so ex-cult members can voice unique feelings or symptoms. Following up on "Other" can surface invaluable insights you’d never have anticipated.

NPS as a relevant measurement for ex-cult member surveys

NPS (Net Promoter Score) is traditionally used in business, but it has surprising value in ex-cult member surveys about religious trauma symptoms. By asking, “How likely are you to recommend seeking professional support for former cult members to others?” on a 0–10 scale, you quickly spot not only satisfaction levels, but willingness to advocate for healing paths. Patterns in NPS answers are especially telling, given that 24% of surveyed ex-cult members sought professional help and 3% required hospitalization for emotional issues. [3] If you want to try a ready-made NPS survey for religious trauma symptoms, build one instantly.

The power of follow-up questions

Smart follow-up questions make all the difference in a conversational survey. These let you dig deeper, clarify responses, and walk respondents through their memories with empathy. Specific’s automated follow-up system uses AI to ask just the right supplementary questions, in real time, based on a respondent’s answer and the surrounding context. This unlocks honest, in-depth feedback without the back-and-forth of manual emails.

• Ex-cult member: "I felt really lost after leaving."

• AI follow-up: "Can you explain what ‘lost’ felt like for you? Was it emotional, practical, or something else?"

How many followups to ask? Two or three well-timed probing questions are enough for most surveys. With Specific, you can configure the maximum number or allow respondents to move on when they’ve shared what matters.

This makes it a conversational survey: When follow-ups are woven in seamlessly, the survey becomes a genuine conversation—not an interrogation—helping people open up more naturally.

AI-powered survey analysis: While open text responses might seem like a chore to analyze, AI simplifies it. With tools like AI response analysis, patterns and key insights are extracted, even from long-form replies. Review how to analyze survey answers for practical steps.

Curious how this works in action? Try generating a conversational survey and experience how automated follow-ups elevate the depth of insight.

Prompting ChatGPT or similar AI for better survey questions

If you want to use AI to compose meaningful questions for ex-cult member surveys about religious trauma symptoms, start with a clear, focused prompt:

First, you can try:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for ex-cult member survey about religious trauma symptoms.

But if you give more context, you’ll get much richer results—AI thrives on specifics. For example:

I’m building a survey for adults who have recently left high-demand religious groups or cults. The aim is to understand the emotional and psychological symptoms they’re experiencing, learn about their support strategies, and identify unmet needs in mental health support. Suggest open-ended questions that are sensitive, trauma-informed, and non-judgmental.

Want to sort your questions for easier survey building? Ask:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Then, pick categories you want to explore in more depth, and continue with:

Generate 10 questions for the categories: Emotional Symptoms, Effects on Relationships, Coping Strategies.

What is a conversational survey, and why does AI improve the process?

A conversational survey is an interactive feedback experience that feels more like a chat with an empathetic researcher than a stilted web form. Respondents answer one question at a time, while the survey automatically adapts, probing for clarity and depth. For sensitive topics like religious trauma symptoms—where trust matters—this format increases engagement and gets at truths traditional surveys miss.

Here’s a quick side-by-side of manual versus AI-generated survey creation:

Why use AI for ex-cult member surveys? AI survey generation gives you access to trauma-informed language, diverse question templates, and sophisticated follow-up that would take hours to design by hand. With a few adjustments in an AI survey editor, your survey is live—delivering actionable insights before you’d ever finish a traditional version.

Specific delivers the smoothest, most engaging conversational survey experience—ideal for those seeking honest, high-impact feedback from complex audiences. See step-by-step guidance in our article on creating ex-cult member surveys.

See this religious trauma symptoms survey example now

Start discovering real insights—see what it’s like to design and launch a powerful, conversational survey for ex-cult members in moments. Take the first step in understanding religious trauma symptoms from those who have lived it.