Abstract
Trigger warnings are alerts provided to help people prepare for and perhaps avoid forthcoming material or experiences that could trigger memories and reactions to past aversive events. Recent research, including the target study here by Kimble and colleagues, has taken an individualistic approach to studying trigger warnings. Their focus has been primarily on trigger warnings’ impact on avoidance, anxiety, and coping. These studies help provide evidence-based guidance on trigger warning use and deployment after a period of advocacy and discussion that lacked such data. In this commentary, I review the growing body of empirical work on trigger warnings, including the proposed benefits and risks of their use. I also aim to place Kimble and colleagues’ work in context among these studies and offer ideas of expanding future studies to include an institutional lens. Such research holds promise in clarifying concerns on campus that might be underlying trigger warning requests and finding ways to better serve students.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of Data and Materials
Not applicable.
References
Artime, T. M., & Buchholz, K. R. (2016). Treatment for sexual assault survivors at university counseling centers. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 30(4), 252–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/87568225.2016.1219610
Bellet, B. W., Jones, P. J., Meyersburg, C. A., Brenneman, M. M., Morehead, K. E., & McNally, R. J. (2020). Trigger warnings and resilience in college students: A preregistered replication and extension. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Applied, 26(4), 717–723. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000270
Bernard, J. D., Whittles, R. L., Kertz, S. J., & Burke, P. A. (2015). Trauma and event centrality: Valence and incorporation into identity influence well-being more than exposure. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 7, 11–17. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037331
Berntsen, D., & Rubin, D. C. (2006). The centrality of event scale: A measure of integrating a trauma into one’s identity and its relation to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Behavior Research and Therapy, 44, 219–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.01.009
Boals, A., & Murrell, A. R. (2016). I am > trauma: Experimentally reducing event centrality and PTSD symptoms in a clinical trial. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 21, 471–483. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2015.1117930
Boysen, G. A., Isaacs, R. A., Tretter, L., & Markowski, S. (2021). Trigger warning efficacy: The impact of warnings on affect, attitudes, and learning. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 7(1), 39–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000150
Breslau, N. (2009). The epidemiology of trauma, PTSD, and other posttrauma disorders. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 10(3), 198–210. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838009334448
Bridgland, V., & Takarangi, M. (2021). Danger! Negative memories ahead: The effect of warnings on reactions to and recall of negative memories. Memory, 29(3), 319–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2021.1892147
Bridgland, V., Bellet, B., & Takarangi, M. (2022). Curiosity disturbed the cat: Instagram’s Sensitive Content Screens do not deter vulnerable users from viewing distressing content. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026221097618
Bridgland, V., Jones, P., & Bellet, B. (2023). A meta-analysis of the efficacy of trigger warnings, content warnings, and content notes. Clinical Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026231186625. Advance online publication.
Bruce, M. J., & Roberts, D. C. (2020). Trigger warnings in context: The role of institutional betrayal in the trigger warning debate. College Student Journal, 54, 484–490.
Bruce, M. J., & Stasik-O’Brien, S. M. (2023). Trauma centrality moderates the relationship between PTSD symptoms and trigger warning receptivity. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-023-10093-1. Advance online publication.
Bruce, M. J., Stasik-O’Brien, S. M., & Hoffmann, H. (2021). Students’ psychophysiological reactivity to trigger warnings. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01895-1. Advance online publication.
Cantor, D., Fisher, B., Chibnall, S., Harps, S., Townsend, R., Thomas, G., Lee, H., Kranz, V., Herbison, R., & Madden, K. (2020). Report on the AAU Campus Climate Survey on sexual assault and misconduct. https://www.aau.edu/sites/default/files/AAU-Files/Key-Issues/Campus-Safety/Revised%20Aggregate%20report%20%20and%20appendices%201-7_(01-16-2020_FINAL).pdf
Cares, A. C., Franklin, C. A., Fisher, B. S., & Bostaph, L. G. (2018). “They were there for people who needed them:” Student attitudes toward the use of trigger warnings in victimology classrooms. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 30, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2018.1433221
Ehlers, A., Mayou, R. A., & Bryant, B. (1998). Psychological predictors of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder after motor vehicle accidents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107(3), 508–519. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-843x.107.3.508
Gainsburg, I., & Earl, A. (2018). Trigger warnings as an interpersonal emotion-regulation tool: Avoidance, attention, and affect depend on beliefs. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 79, 252–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.08.006
Holland, K. J., Cortina, L. M., & Freyd, J. J. (2018). Compelled disclosure of college sexual assault. American Psychologist, 73(3), 256–268. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000186
Jones, P. J., Bellet, B. W., & McNally, R. J. (2020). Helping or harming? The effect of trigger warnings on individuals with trauma histories. Clinical Psychological Science, 8(5), 905–917. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702620921341
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Achieves of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593
Kimble, M., Dahlstrom, H., Furman, H., Nasi, E., & Flack, W. (2023). Trauma-specific reactions to sexual assault content in college students: Considerations for content warnings. Human Arenas. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3346204/v1
Lebowitz, E. R., Panza, K. E., & Bloch, M. H. (2016). Family accommodation in obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders: A five-year update. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 16(1), 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1586/14737175.2016.1126181
Nolan, H. A., & Roberts, L. (2022). Medical students’ views on the value of trigger warnings in education: A qualitative study. Medical Education, 56(8), 834–846. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14803
Sanson, M., Strange, D., & Garry, M. (2019). Trigger warnings are trivially helpful at reducing negative affect, intrusive thoughts, and avoidance. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(4), 778–793. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702619827018
Smith, C. P., & Freyd, J. J. (2013). Dangerous safe havens: Institutional betrayal exacerbates sexual trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26, 119–124. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21778
Veraldi, L., & Veraldi, D. M. (2015). Stressors, triggers, and trauma: Considering DSM-5 in the debate over campus trigger warnings. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 33, 5–17.
Wilson, R. (2015). Students’ requests for trigger warnings grow more varied. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Students-Requests-for/233043
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
M.B. wrote the main manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
Not applicable.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This article is a commentary for the BISTOPS 2022 Special Section.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Bruce, M. Institutional Reactions to Trigger Warning Requests: Thoughts on Kimble et al.. Hu Arenas 7, 389–395 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-023-00382-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-023-00382-2