Glad to see some empirical evidence on this.. The findings make a lot of
sense, but the empirical validation is especially important and warranted.
I just wonder whether or not this will make any sort of significant impact
on the usage of trigger warnings..

Best,

Cole Butler
Faculty Specialist
Project Coordinator: Treating Parents with ADHD and their Children (TPAC
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On Thu, Sep 10, 2020 at 8:03 AM Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi TOK Folks,
>
>
>
> Someone backchanneled me this article forwarded from Ken Pope’s list serve
> on trigger warnings. See below. Summary is that the overall picture does
> not offer strong endorsement of their utility, at least from the empirical
> findings gathered to date, and is probably more likely to enhance a
> trauma-victim narrative overall.
>
>
>
> I think the debates around trigger warnings highlight one of the most
> central dilemmas in today’s world, which is the tension between (and
> massive polarization around) creating safe, equitable environments that
> enable people of all stripes and backgrounds to navigate and have access
> without undue hardship or marginalization AND ensuring folks are
> accountable and responsible for their own vulnerabilities, weaknesses and
> are not celebrated or reinforced or coddled for a victim identity that
> sometimes can be too easily claimed and asserted, especially if rights are
> being proclaimed absent equal focus on responsibility. The stoic philosophy
> is a good guide on this latter point, and it is something that was central
> to Jordan Peterson’s rise.
>
>
>
> Note that the social/relational motivational dynamics on this tension can
> be framed by the Influence Matrix
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.unifiedtheoryofknowledge.org_8-2Dkey-2Dideas_the-2Dinfluence-2Dmatrix&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=dV_Z4Ej8Zt8YT2oPvUCDxd3UVPrLhfLip_h4RRqkhzE&s=nRcXZEA2LUiUmuOD-_Yrugol5UbL6shssXXsJo5CwvY&e= >.
> If folks are interested in hearing more, I can elaborate.
>
>
>
> Best,
> Gregg
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Forwarded Message -----
>
> *From:* Ken Pope <[log in to unmask]>
>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, September 8, 2020, 06:31:08 AM PDT
>
> *Subject:* Helping or Harming? Effect of Trigger Warnings on People w/
> Trauma Histories—Random Assignment Study of 451 Trauma Survivors
>
>
>
> *Clinical Psychological Science* has scheduled a study for publication in
> a future issue: "Helping or Harming? The Effect of Trigger Warnings on
> Individuals With Trauma Histories.”
>
>
>
> The authors are Payton J. Jones, Benjamin W. Bellet, & Richard J. McNally.
>
>
>
> Here’s how it opens:
>
>
>
> [begin excerpt]
>
>
>
> Giving a trigger warning means providing prior notification about
> forthcoming content that may be emotionally disturbing (Boysen, 2017). In
> this sense, trigger warnings are similar to PG-13 or “viewer discretion
> advised” warnings that are common across many different forms of media.
> Trigger warnings are distinct in that they originated as a measure of
> protection specifically for survivors of trauma. For people with
> posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), viewing reminders of trauma can spark
> painful reexperiencing symptoms (e.g., flashbacks; American Psychiatric
> Association [APA], 2013). Trigger warnings originated in online discussion
> groups for survivors of sexual trauma in which individuals would warn
> readers before discussing their experiences. Since their inception, trigger
> warnings have expanded far beyond the boundaries of specialized online
> communities. Trigger warnings are now used in educational settings, social
> media, entertainment, and other venues. In addition to their expansion in
> setting, they have also expanded in scope beyond sexual violence (Wilson,
> 2015).
>
>
>
> Trigger warnings have sparked considerable debate in higher education.
> Proponents of trigger warnings have emphasized their importance in creating
> an inclusive atmosphere for disadvantaged groups on campus (e.g., Karasek,
> 2016). They have argued that trigger warnings provide agency to engage or
> not to engage and that they allow trauma survivors to adequately prepare to
> engage with difficult material. Critics have suggested that trigger
> warnings imperil free speech, academic freedom, and effective teaching,
> which prevents students from engaging with challenging material (e.g.,
> Ellison, 2016). Other critics have suggested that trigger warnings foster
> unreasonable expectations about the world, hampering natural resilience
> among young people (e.g., Lukianoff & Haidt, 2015). Furthermore, trigger
> warnings could also be problematic for trauma survivors in particular
> (McNally, 2016). People who view trauma as a core part of their identity
> have worse symptoms (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006; Brown, Antonius, Kramer, Root,
> & Hirst, 2010; Robinaugh & McNally, 2011). Therefore, trigger warnings
> might iatrogenically reinforce the importance of past traumatic events for
> the very people they were originally designed to help.
>
>
>
> The arguments surrounding trigger warnings are often complex. Before
> diving into this complexity, a much more basic question should be answered:
> Do trigger warnings actually work? That is, do they help trauma survivors
> emotionally prepare to engage with difficult material? From the vantage
> point of clinical science, trigger warnings are a type of community-based
> clinical intervention intended to foster emotional well-being among trauma
> survivors. Yet because of their grassroots origin in a nonclinical setting,
> trigger warnings have expanded for years without the rigorous scientific
> evaluation that normally accompanies such interventions.
>
>
>
> [end excerpt]
>
>
>
> Another excerpt: "Trauma survivors (N = 451) were randomly assigned to
> either receive or not to receive trigger warnings before reading passages
> from world literature. We found no evidence that trigger warnings were
> helpful for trauma survivors, for participants who self-reported a
> posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis, or for participants 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."
>
>
>
> Here’s how the Discussion section opens: "Past research has indicated that
> trigger warnings are unhelpful in reducing anxiety. The results of this
> study are consistent with that conclusion. This study was the first to
> focus on how trigger warnings function in a sample of people who had
> survived Criterion A trauma as defined by the DSM–5 (APA, 2013). Trigger
> warnings did not reduce anxiety for this sample broadly. Trigger warnings
> also did not reduce anxiety among people who met a clinical cutoff for PTSD
> symptoms, reported a diagnosis of PTSD, or reported that the stimuli
> matched the content of their past trauma. Trigger warnings showed trivially
> small effects on response anxiety overall. When effects did emerge, they
> tended toward small increases in anxiety rather than decreases."
>
>
>
> Another excerpt:
>
>
>
> [begin excerpt]
>
>
>
> We found substantial evidence that giving trigger warnings to trauma
> survivors caused them to view trauma as more central to their life
> narrative. This effect is a reason for worry. Some trigger warnings
> explicitly suggest that trauma survivors are uniquely vulnerable (e.g., “ .
> . . especially in those with a history of trauma”). Even when trigger
> warnings mention content only, the implicit message that trauma survivors
> are vulnerable remains (Why else provide a warning?). These messages may
> reinforce the notion that trauma is invariably a watershed event that
> causes permanent psychological change. In reality, a majority of trauma
> survivors are resilient, experiencing little if any lasting psychological
> changes as a result of their experience (Bonanno, 2004; Bonanno & Mancini,
> 2008). Aggregated across various types of trauma, just 4% of potentially
> traumatic events result in PTSD (Liu et al., 2017).2 However, trauma
> survivors who view their traumatic experience as central to their life have
> elevated PTSD symptoms (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006; Brown et., 2010; Robinaugh
> & McNally, 2011). Trauma centrality prospectively predicts elevated PTSD
> symptoms, whereas the reverse is not true (Boals & Ruggero, 2016).
> Decreases in trauma centrality mediated therapy outcomes (Boals & Murrell,
> 2016). This suggests that increasing trauma centrality is directly
> countertherapeutic. In other words, trigger warnings may harm survivors by
> increasing trauma centrality.
>
>
>
> We tested whether the severity of PTSD symptoms in our sample moderated
> any of our tested hypotheses. In most cases, we found either evidence for
> no moderation or ambiguous evidence. However, we did find substantial
> evidence that PTSD symptoms moderated the effect of trigger warnings on
> response anxiety. For individuals who had more severe PTSD, trigger
> warnings increased anxiety. This effect is ironic in the sense that trigger
> warnings may be most harmful for the individuals they were designed to
> protect. We found no evidence that individuals’ prior exposure to trigger
> warnings moderated any of the previous effects.
>
>
>
> [end excerpt]
>
>
>
> *TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THE ARTICLE*: Contact info for reprint requests and
> questions or other correspondence about this article: Payton J. Jones,
> Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge,
> MA 02138 E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> Ken Pope
>
>
>
> Pope: Anti-Racism & Racism in Psychology as a Science, Discipline, &
> Profession: 57 Articles & Books (Citations + Summaries)
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__dmanalytics2.com_click-3Fu-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fkspope.com-252Fethics-252Fanti-2Dracism.php-26i-3D2-26d-3D0GDJwmS2RAeVGqAxC7KCjg-26e-3Dparisa13-2540yahoo.com-26a-3DouPT-5Fc8lR-2Daj2BhDXVKqnw-26s-3DljbcgpWdupY&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=wjF8cZoiFchamTuxBdDEmw&m=EE8PNx0Z-aLWwmBIetex3DgszsSC1kvFjiumM4XgWwY&s=EoLANtNgOlTzvC_FSqBWGHoZ5PvHdnnsiVUdt7hOcXw&e=>
>
>
>
> Pope & Vasquez: Ethics in Psychotherapy & Counseling: A Practical Guide,
> 5th Edition
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__dmanalytics2.com_click-3Fu-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fkspope.com-252Fethics-252Fethics.php-26i-3D3-26d-3D0GDJwmS2RAeVGqAxC7KCjg-26e-3Dparisa13-2540yahoo.com-26a-3DouPT-5Fc8lR-2Daj2BhDXVKqnw-26s-3DP8aUsUOOqUk&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=wjF8cZoiFchamTuxBdDEmw&m=EE8PNx0Z-aLWwmBIetex3DgszsSC1kvFjiumM4XgWwY&s=keh_OOPpAY7bzFQrPv9EOU8k3kxoIhO0L88qU2gXamE&e=>
>
>
>
> Pope: A Human Rights & Ethics Crisis Facing the World's Largest
> Organization of Psychologists
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__dmanalytics2.com_click-3Fu-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fkspope.com-252Fapa-252Fcrisis.php-26i-3D4-26d-3D0GDJwmS2RAeVGqAxC7KCjg-26e-3Dparisa13-2540yahoo.com-26a-3DouPT-5Fc8lR-2Daj2BhDXVKqnw-26s-3D0Iu7AfGxHpY&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=wjF8cZoiFchamTuxBdDEmw&m=EE8PNx0Z-aLWwmBIetex3DgszsSC1kvFjiumM4XgWwY&s=BBvvhGoUEWctR7wbwVbFm3L0yXh3nXT3t70P75VIC3Y&e=>
>
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