Despite an increasing trend toward issuing trigger warnings, they may be largely irrelevant.
Researchers from New Zealand and the USA conducted six experiments to examine the way trigger warnings play out in real-world contexts. Increasingly, students are requesting that university staff issue prior warnings to the class if course material may cause distress. The participants were exposed to negative content, with only some receiving a trigger warning beforehand. The symptoms and perception of distress in all participants were then measured. To assess the impact of the trigger warnings’ effects, a metaanalysis of this data was also undertaken. The results showed that trigger warnings had nominal effects, with people reporting similar levels of negative affect, intrusions, and avoidance regardless of whether they received a trigger warning or not. In addition, this pattern was the same even among participants with a history of trauma. These findings indicate trigger warnings may be neither damaging nor helpful in a meaningful way.
doi.org/10.1177/2167702619827018
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