Helping or Harming? The Effect of Trigger Warnings on Individuals with Trauma Histories

Abstract

Objective: Trigger warnings alert trauma survivors about potentially disturbing forthcoming content. However, most empirical studies on trigger warnings indicate that they are either functionally inert or cause small adverse side effects. These evaluations have been limited to either trauma-naïve participants or mixed samples. Accordingly, we tested whether trigger warnings would be psychologically beneficial in the most relevant population: survivors of serious trauma. Method: Our experiment was a preregistered replication and extension of a previous one (Bellet, Jones, & McNally, 2018); 451 trauma survivors were randomly assigned to either receive or not receive trigger warnings prior to reading potentially distressing passages from world literature. They provided their emotional reactions to each passage; self-reported anxiety was the primary dependent variable. Results: We found no evidence that trigger warnings were helpful for trauma survivors, for those who self-reported a PTSD diagnosis, or for those who qualified for probable PTSD, even when survivors' trauma matched the passages’ content. We found substantial evidence that trigger warnings countertherapeutically reinforce survivors' view of their trauma as central to their identity. Regarding replication hypotheses, the evidence was either ambiguous or substantially favored the hypothesis that trigger warnings have no effect. Conclusions: Trigger warnings are not helpful for trauma survivors. It is less clear whether trigger warnings are explicitly harmful. However, such knowledge is unnecessary to adjudicate whether to use trigger warnings – because trigger warnings are consistently unhelpful, there is no evidence-based reason to use them.

Longitudinal studies support the safety and ethics of virtual reality suicide as a research method

“…Moreover, multiple studies have shown potential benefits of exposure to suicide-related stimuli, such as reduction in distress, suicide ideation, and depressive symptoms 16 , 17 , 55 . Broader evidence outside the field of suicide research also does not support deleterious psychological consequences of exposure to provocative content; in fact, warnings about such content potentially inducing negative reactions may exert countertherapeutic effects 56 , 57 . In line with previous studies, the current findings indicate that exposure to immersive and intense suicide-related content not only does not cause harm but might be associated with symptom reductions in the medium and long term.…”

A Network Analysis of DSM‐5 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Event Centrality

“…Participants were recruited from Amazon's (Seattle, WA, USA) Mechanical Turk (MTurk) for an online study concerning the effects of trigger warnings on trauma survivors; individuals completed the questionnaires used in the present study as a part of their involvement in this larger study. For the original study's full procedure, see Jones et al (2020).…”

Ethical issues in participatory arts methods for young people with adverse childhood experiences

“…The potential impact of dissemination on any audience must also be considered 117 . It is commonplace now to see ‘trigger warnings’ on performance pieces, and yet, there is ongoing debate as to whether these are helpful or harmful to individuals 119 . Individual artists are permitted to share their own subjective artistic expressions as they please.…”

“… 117 It is commonplace now to see ‘trigger warnings’ on performance pieces, and yet, there is ongoing debate as to whether these are helpful or harmful to individuals. 119 Individual artists are permitted to share their own subjective artistic expressions as they please. However, the responsibilities of ABHR projects may not be equitable.…”