The work of a Content Moderator requires focus and concentration to accurately identify and tag high volumes of non-compliant user-generated content. There is also the additional cognitive toll adhering to policy and community standards, while being subjected to rigorous quality standards. In addition, they must also navigate the emotional impact of viewing graphic or disturbing content within these high-stress work environments. So how can psychological demands and workplace pressures be managed to help support moderator focus and productivity?
According to the recently published Framework to Create Mentally Healthy Workplaces, enhancing personal resilience is an essential part of a wider strategy to protect mental health, alongside preventative approaches to reduce psychosocial harm or injury in the first place. Preventative programs should support employees to understand and withstand the impact of stressors, thus helping to reduce the development and progression of mental health challenges. This could take the form of stress and burnout awareness training, mental health or workplace stress psychoeducation. Research indicates that having access to mental health supports alleviates emotional exhaustion, allowing moderators to sustain better focus and improved cognitive function. Furthermore, resilience and psychological training equips moderators with skills to manage work-related stress more effectively, minimising distractions and maintaining task-orientated concentration.
In addition to educative trainings, it also important to provide evidence-based psychological interventions shown in the research to reduce the impact of stress. A metareview of workplace interventions found good evidence for the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), mindfulness and stress management strategies as a preventative strategy, with moderate to large effects on mental health and quality of life measures. In fact mindfulness and CBT-based approaches have been found to be the most consistently effective interventions to improve employee subjective wellbeing.
Cognitive Performance
A systematic review of mindfulness-based stress management interventions found a positive impact not only on overall wellbeing but also on cognitive performance, both valuable assets in Content Moderator work. Additionally, an MBSR study found that practicing mindfulness reduced levels of cortisol and other stress hormones, essentially interrupting the stress cycle. By reducing the negative impacts of stress on the brain this can improve overall cognitive function and concentration. Regular mindfulness practice has also been shown to improve attentional control, and cognitive functioning, including sustained attention and working memory capacity. Attention is cultivated using meditative practices which focus on present-moment experiences and enhancing cognitive control. It strengthens neural connections and pathways in the brain, for improved flexibility and adaptability, as well as attention and emotion regulation. Essentially it switches participants from “doing mode” to being mode”, more associated with relaxation and less with stress activation. Individuals are also more likely to get into “the zone” or “flow” of work, making them work more effectively.
Trauma-Informed Approach
There has been a lot of research on the effectiveness of resilience and stress management training on the general working population. However, to address more high-risk roles, a 2023 systematic review suggests some potential of mind-body exercise programs (yoga and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) for trauma-exposed groups (i.e. veterans, natural disaster survivors), however found yoga to have a larger effect size. In fact, recent studies have found mindfulness-based interventions can have a negative impact on individuals with anxiety or trauma.
As previously stated, mindfulness helps improve attentional control and cognitive performance, however it also increases awareness of internal and external experiences . This may be problematic for those impacted by trauma, in particular Content Moderators who may find the experience of increased body awareness activating. During mindfulness training, participants are guided to increase their attention to their inner world, which, if there is a lot of stress, anxiety or trauma present, can cause distress and exacerbate symptoms. Their nervous systems may be dysregulated due to perceived threats to safety, or harbouring traumatic memories or sensations from their work, which they have distracted themselves from as a way of coping. A recent qualitative study found distraction to be a common technique used by moderators during and after work. This is why specific techniques are required to gently approach painful experiences to facilitate healing. Trauma- informed mindfulness is an alternative approach that works by avoiding triggers and overwhelm while working with the individuals to process painful experiences.
Mindfulness has so many benefits including integration of different of different regions and networks in the brain which aid in trauma processing. Therefore trauma-informed mindfulness may be very helpful for Content Moderators, who are at greater risk of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout. It may be safer to modify meditation practices by focusing on grounding and anchoring techniques and ways to balance the nervous system which may become impacted by reviewing content. Other safe practices include mindfully listening to music, observing the space, objects and colours around you and movement with present moment awareness, such as yoga, Qi Gong, or Tai Chi instead of still, seated meditations.
Conclusion
While mindfulness and CBT-based interventions focused on reducing stress may be helpful in general workplace environments, content moderation wellbeing requires a more trauma-informed approach to support their wellbeing and allow them to focus to produce good quality work. Recent studies highlight the need for psychoeducation and trauma-informed care to help mitigate the challenges of their work. However, more research is needed on Content Moderator populations to understand their nuanced experience of work and what type of interventions work most effectively for stress, trauma and burnout.
