Congitive Behavioral Therapy Workshop for Content Moderators

Universidad Europea de Valencia

Status: Completed

Conditions: Work-Related Stress Disorder; Work-Related Condition

Treatments: Behavioral: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Workshop for Content Moderators

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06383715

2024-624

Details and patient eligibility

About

Professional content moderators play a critical role in preventing Internet users from being exposed to more sensitive content. However, recent literature has shown that this work places content moderators at increased risk for several psychological outcomes, including intrusive thoughts and vicarious stress trauma. This pilot study will assess the acceptability and feasibility of a brief (4-session) cognitive-behavioral workshop to reduce these risks.

Full description

The growing amount of user-generated content is forcing companies to hire more and more content moderators (CMs). There is ample empirical evidence that exposure to the trauma of others at work affects well-being and mental health , and research focused on CMs suggests that they experience similar effects as other professionals. This includes an increased risk of developing syndromes such as secondary posttraumatic stress, vicarious trauma, and burnout. Recent literature, although limited, indicates that CMs are already using coping strategies such as creating boundaries between work and personal life, although they expressed a preference for individual therapy with specialized professionals. However, this initial work points to the need for technology companies to develop prevention programs based on preventing exposure to traumatic content (.

Therefore, a CBT workshop consisting of four 90-minute group sessions was designed specifically to prevent work-related consequences in a small sample of content moderators. The workshop will have a cognitive-behavioral orientation, which has been shown to be more effective for posttraumatic symptoms. Psychological distress, PTSD symptoms, job satisfaction, and coping strategies will be measured before and after the intervention to assess the feasibility of the workshop.

Enrollment: 12 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Actively work as a professional content moderator, for at least 6 months.

Exclusion criteria

• Presence of a psychotic or personality disorder as defined by DSM-5 criteria.
• Receive another psychological treatment during the time of the study.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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12 participants in 1 patient group

Cognitive Behavioural Workshop

Experimental group

Description:

The experimental group will attend 4 weekly group sessions of 90 minutes each. The intervention will be delivered by a Ph.D. clinical psychologist with over 15 years of clinical experience.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Workshop for Content Moderators