In an attempt to mitigate the negative impact of graphic online imagery, Instagram has introduced sensitive-content screens—graphic images are obfuscated with a blur and accompanied by a warning. Sensitive-content screens purportedly allow “vulnerable people” with mental-health concerns to avoid potentially distressing content. However, no research has assessed whether sensitive-content screens operate as intended. Here we examined whether people, including vulnerable users (operationalized as people with more severe psychopathological symptoms, e.g., depression), use the sensitive-content screens as a tool for avoidance. In two studies, we found that the majority of participants (80%–85%) indicated a desire (Study 1) or made a choice (Study 2) to uncover a screened image. Furthermore, we found no evidence that vulnerable users were any more likely to use the screens to avoid sensitive content. Therefore, warning screens appear to be an ineffective way to deter vulnerable users from viewing negative content.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
2.
AntonyM. M.BielingP. J.CoxB. J.EnnsM. W.SwinsonR. P. (1998). Psychometric properties of the 42-item and 21-item versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in clinical groups and a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 10(2), 176–181. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.10.2.176
3.
BechP.GudexC.JohansenK. S. (1996). The WHO (Ten) well-being index: Validation in diabetes. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 65(4), 183–190. https://doi.org/10.1159/000289073
4.
BelletB. W.JonesP. J.McNallyR. J. (2020). Self-triggering? An exploration of individuals who seek reminders of trauma. Clinical Psychological Science, 8(4), 739–755. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702620917459
5.
BelletB. W.JonesP. J.MeyersburgC. A.BrennemanM. M.MoreheadK. E.McNallyR. 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
6.
BelletB.W.JonesP.W.McNallyR.J. (2018). Trigger warning: Empirical evidence ahead. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 61, 134–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.07.002
7.
BenchS. W.LenchH. C. (2019). Boredom as a seeking state: Boredom prompts the pursuit of novel (even negative) experiences. Emotion, 19(2), 242–254. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000433
8.
BerinskyA. J.MargolisM. F.SancesM. W.WarshawC. (2021). Using screeners to measure respondent attention on self-administered surveys: Which items and how many?Political Science Research and Methods, 9(2), 430–437. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2019.53
9.
BerntsenD.RubinD. 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. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(2), 219–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.01.009
10.
BijvankM. N.KonijnE. A.BushmanB. J.RoelofsmaP. H. M. P. (2009). Age and violent-content labels make video games forbidden fruits for youth. Pediatrics, 123(3), 870–876. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2008-0601
BovinM. J.MarxB. P.WeathersF. W.GallagherM. W.RodriguezP.SchnurrP. P.KeaneT. M. (2016). Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fifth Edition (PCL-5) in veterans. Psychological Assessment, 28(11), 1379–1391. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000254
13.
BoysenG. A.IsaacsR. A.TretterL.MarkowskiS. (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
14.
BrashersD. E.HoganT. P. (2013). The appraisal and management of uncertainty: Implications for information-retrieval systems. Information Processing & Management, 49(6), 1241–1249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2013.06.002
BridglandV. M. E.BarnardJ. F.TakarangiM. K. T. (2021). Unprepared: Thinking of a trigger warning does not prompt preparation for trauma-related content [Manuscript submitted for publication.] College of Education, Psychology & Social Work, Flinders University. https://osf.io/7n85z/
17.
BridglandV. M. E.GreenD. M.OultonJ. M.TakarangiM. K. T. (2019). Expecting the worst: Investigating the effects of trigger warnings on reactions to ambiguously themed photos. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 25(4), 602–617. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000215
18.
BridglandV. M. E.MoeckE. K.GreenD. M.SwainT. L.NaydaD.MatsonL. A.HutchisonN. P.TakarangiM. K. T. (2021). Why the COVID-19 pandemic is a traumatic stressor. PLOS ONE, 16(1), Article e0240146. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.22.307637
19.
BridglandV. M. E.TakarangiM. K. T. (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
20.
BruceM.RobertsD. (2020). Trigger warnings for abuse impact reading comprehension in students with histories of abuse. College Student Journal, 54(2), 157–168.
21.
BushmanB. J.StackA. D. (1996). Forbidden fruit versus tainted fruit: Effects of warning labels on attraction to television violence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2(3), 207–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-898x.2.3.207
22.
CarletonR. N. (2012). The intolerance of uncertainty construct in the context of anxiety disorders: Theoretical and practical perspectives. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 12(8), 937–947. https://doi.org/10.1586/ern.12.82
23.
CarlsonE. B.SmithS. R.PalmieriP. A.DalenbergC.RuzekJ. I.KimerlingR.BurlingT. A.SpainD. A. (2011). Development and validation of a brief self-report measure of trauma exposure: The trauma history screen. Psychological Assessment, 23(2), 463–477. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022294
24.
DodgeR.DalyA.HuytonJ.SandersL. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(3), 222–235. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v2i3.4
25.
EisenbergD.DownsM. F.GolbersteinE.ZivinK. (2009). Stigma and help seeking for mental health among college students. Medical Care Research and Review, 66(5), 522–541. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077558709335173
26.
FieldA. (2005). Discovering statistics using SPSS (2nd ed.). Sage.
27.
GainsburgI.EarlA. (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
28.
HauserD. J.SchwarzN. (2015). Attentive Turkers: MTurk participants perform better on online attention checks than do subject pool participants. Behavior Research Methods, 48(1), 400–407. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0578-z
JonesP. J.BelletB. W.McNallyR. J. (2019). Helping or harming? The effect of trigger warnings on individuals with trauma histories. Clinical Psychological Science, 8(5), 905–917. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/axn6z
31.
KashdanT. B.DisabatoD. J.GoodmanF. R.McKnightP. E. (2020). The Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR): Briefer subscales while separating overt and covert social curiosity. Personality and Individual Differences, 157, Article 109836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.109836
32.
KriegerT.ZimmermannJ.HuffzigerS.UblB.DienerC.KuehnerC.Grosse HoltforthM. (2014). Measuring depression with a well-being index: Further evidence for the validity of the WHO Well-Being Index (WHO-5) as a measure of the severity of depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 156, 240–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.12.015
LittletonH.HorsleyS.JohnS.NelsonD. V. (2007). Trauma coping strategies and psychological distress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20(6), 977–988. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20276
LongoY.CoyneI.JosephS. (2018). Development of the short version of the Scales of General Well-Being: The 14-item SGWB. Personality and Individual Differences, 124, 31–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.11.042
37.
LovibondP. F.LovibondS. H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33(3), 335–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(94)00075-u
38.
MarchewkaA.Z.urawskiŁ.JednorógK.GrabowskaA. (2014). The Nencki Affective Picture System (NAPS): Introduction to a novel, standardized, wide-range, high-quality, realistic picture database. Behavior Research Methods, 46, 596–610. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-013-0379-1
39.
MillgramY.JoormannJ.HuppertJ. D.TamirM. (2015). Sad as a matter of choice? Emotion-regulation goals in depression. Psychological Science, 26(8), 1216–1228. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615583295
NgA. H.KermaniM. S.LalondeR. N. (2021). Cultural differences in psychological reactance: Responding to social media censorship. Current Psychology, 40(6), 2804–2813. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00213-0
RainsS. A.TukachinskyR. (2014). An examination of the relationships among uncertainty, appraisal, and information-seeking behavior proposed in uncertainty management theory. Health Communication, 30(4), 339–349. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2013.858285
45.
RedmondS.JonesN. M.HolmanE. A.SilverR. C. (2019). Who watches an ISIS beheading—And why. American Psychologist, 74(5), 555–568. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000438
46.
RickwoodD. J.BraithwaiteV. A. (1994). Social-psychological factors affecting help-seeking for emotional problems. Social Science & Medicine, 39(4), 563–572. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(94)90099-x
47.
RingoldD. J. (2002). Boomerang effects in response to public health interventions: Some unintended consequences in the alcoholic beverage market. Journal of Consumer Policy, 25(1), 27–63. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1014588126336
48.
SansonM.StrangeD.GarryM. (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
49.
SchönbrodtF. D.PeruginiM. (2013). At what sample size do correlations stabilize?Journal of Research in Personality, 47(5), 609–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2013.05.009
50.
SchönbrodtF. D.PeruginiM. (2018). Corrigendum to “At what sample size do correlations stabilize?” [J. Res. Pers. 47 (2013) 609–612]. Journal of Research in Personality, 74, 194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2018.02.010
51.
ShapiroD. N.ChandlerJ.MuellerP. A. (2013). Using Mechanical Turk to study clinical populations. Clinical Psychological Science, 1(2), 213–220. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702612469015
52.
SheeranP. (2005). Intention-behavior relations: A conceptual and empirical review. European Review of Social Psychology, 12(1), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/14792772143000003
53.
SheeranP.WebbT. L. (2016). The intention-behavior gap. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10(9), 503–518. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12265
54.
SilviaP. J.KashdanT. B. (2009). Interesting things and curious people: Exploration and engagement as transient states and enduring strengths. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3(5), 785–797. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2009.00210.x
55.
WakefieldM.Terry-McElrathY.EmeryS.SafferH.ChaloupkaF. J.SzczypkaG.FlayB.O’MalleyP. M.JohnstonL. D. (2006). Effect of televised, tobacco company–funded smoking prevention advertising on youth smoking-related beliefs, intentions, and behavior. American Journal of Public Health, 96(12), 2154–2160. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2005.083352
56.
WilsonC. J.DeaneF. P.CiarrochiJ.RickwoodD. (2005). General Help Seeking Questionnaire [Database record]. APA PsycTests. https://doi.org/10.1037/t42876-000
