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Students responses to differing trigger warnings: A replication and extension
Matthew Kimble1, Jennifer Koide2, William F Flack3
1Department of Psychology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, USA.
Journal of American College Health : J of ACH
|July 26, 2022
Summary
Trigger warnings did not significantly alter student distress levels when reading challenging literature. The type of trigger warning or prior trauma history did not impact emotional responses to sensitive content.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Education
- Trauma Studies
Background:
- Trigger warnings are increasingly used in educational settings to alert students to potentially distressing content.
- Research on the effectiveness of trigger warnings in mitigating negative emotional responses is ongoing and yields mixed results.
- Understanding student responses to sensitive literary content is crucial for creating inclusive learning environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of different types of trigger warnings on undergraduate students' emotional and psychological responses to a passage depicting physical and sexual assault.
- To determine if pre-existing trauma history or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms influence distress levels after exposure to triggering content.
- To assess the relationship between trigger warning anticipation (neutral, positive, negative) and student distress.
Main Methods:
- 123 undergraduates were randomly assigned to read a passage containing depictions of assault under varying trigger warning conditions (neutral, positive, negative).
- Participants' distress and PTSD symptoms were measured on three separate occasions: Day 1, Day 2, and Day 14.
- Statistical analyses were conducted to compare distress levels across different trigger warning groups and to examine the influence of trauma history.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in distress were found based on the type of trigger warning used.
- Students' pre-existing trauma history did not correlate with increased distress after reading the passage.
- Initial PTSD symptom severity did not predict greater distress over the study period.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest that instructors can use challenging literary passages without undue concern for disproportionately affecting students with related trauma histories.
- The type of trigger warning employed does not appear to significantly influence students' emotional reactions to sensitive material.
- Educational institutions may not need to focus on the specific nature of warnings, as their impact on distress is minimal.
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