MedDataX Logo

Congitive Behavioral Therapy Workshop for Content Moderators

NCT ID: NCT06383715

Last Updated: 2024-12-09

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

12 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-05-01

Study Completion Date

2024-08-01

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

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.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

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.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Work-Related Condition Work-Related Stress Disorder

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Cognitive Behavioural Workshop

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.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Workshop for Content Moderators

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

This 4-session group workshop is based on the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It consists of four sessions:

1. Presentation. Scientific evidence of psychological consequences on content moderatos. Psicoeducation on the effects of vicarious trauma exposure.
2. Presentation of the cognitive model. Identification/operationalization of thoughts. Discussion of possible irrational thoughts.
3. Psychoeducation of emotions and their adaptive function. Behavioral strategies of emotions: exposure therapies and behavioral activation.
4. The role of social support. Strategies for appropriate work and sleep hygiene. Strategies for maintaining gains. Farewell.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Workshop for Content Moderators

This 4-session group workshop is based on the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It consists of four sessions:

1. Presentation. Scientific evidence of psychological consequences on content moderatos. Psicoeducation on the effects of vicarious trauma exposure.
2. Presentation of the cognitive model. Identification/operationalization of thoughts. Discussion of possible irrational thoughts.
3. Psychoeducation of emotions and their adaptive function. Behavioral strategies of emotions: exposure therapies and behavioral activation.
4. The role of social support. Strategies for appropriate work and sleep hygiene. Strategies for maintaining gains. Farewell.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

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.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Universidad Europea de Valencia

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Carlos López-Pinar

Lecturer and Researcher

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Carlos López-Pinar, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Universidad Europea de Valencia

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

MEGA cloud services

Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Spain

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Léonard, M.-J., Saumier, D., & Brunet, A. (2020). When the lawyer becomes traumatized: A scoping review. SAGE Open, 10(3), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020957032

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Lewis C, Roberts NP, Andrew M, Starling E, Bisson JI. Psychological therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2020 Mar 10;11(1):1729633. doi: 10.1080/20008198.2020.1729633. eCollection 2020.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32284821 (View on PubMed)

Seigfried-Spellar, K. C. (2018) Assessing the Psychological Well-being and Coping Mechanisms of Law Enforcement Investigators vs. Digital Forensic Examiners of Child Pornography Investigations. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 33, 215-226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-017-9248-7

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Steiger, M., Bharucha, T. J., Venkatagiri, S., Riedl, M. J., & Lease, M. (2021). The psychological well-being of content moderators: The emotional labor of commercial moderation and avenues for improving support. In CHI '21: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445092

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Spence, R., Bifulco, A., Bradbury, P., Martellozzo, E., & DeMarco, J. (2023a). The psychological impacts of content moderation on content moderators: A qualitative study. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 17(4), Article X. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2023-X-X

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

2024-624

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id