"potential distress" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when expressing a situation or feeling in which distress is possible but has not yet been realized. For example: "The impending storm caused a sense of potential distress among the villagers."
The "understandable potential distress" of victims or victims' families is also taken into account.
Rhodes's ex-wife had brought an injunction against the book on the grounds that it would be a source of potential distress to their son.
The potential distress mechanisms in semi-rigid pavements were revisited in order to synthesize the primary factors affecting performance.
They may touch on workers' potential distress, but then they tend to launch into strangely frisson-filled discussions of a future apocalypse.
One screening method was an unpublished questionnaire designed to explore multiple areas of potential distress for those who have experienced burns.
It noted a report from rescue agencies to BCP at the time which said the boat may be in potential distress due to insufficient lifejackets and space for all people on board.
How can we follow up?'" (Physician, in-patient unit) Caregiving is a time of potential high distress given the likelihood of caregiver burden during the patient's illness [ 48] where distress might cloud assessment.
Not untasty, per se, but just too much of a greasy, fatty, heavy mess to be worth the calories and potential digestive distress.
OCF has a serious drawback as a measure of potential financial distress because it disregards size-of-business considerations as well as any unused borrowing capacity.
The BBC went on to tell Ofcom that it "immediately recognised that this image carried the potential for distress" following transmission and told its staff to ensure the image was not shown again.
He initially asked the producers to kill his character off, and though they refused, citing potential audience distress, they agreed to Mr. Harrison's next suggestion: let Gonzo suffer a paralyzing stroke that would prohibit his practicing surgery ever again.
