Content moderator mental health and associations with coping styles: replication and extension of previous studies

Article

Spence, R. and DeMarco, J. 2025. Content moderator mental health and associations with coping styles: replication and extension of previous studies. Behavioral Sciences. 15 (4), p. 487. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040487
TypeArticle
TitleContent moderator mental health and associations with coping styles: replication and extension of previous studies
AuthorsSpence, R. and DeMarco, J.
Abstract

There is an increasing evidence base that demonstrates the psychological toll of content moderation on the employees that perform this crucial task. Nevertheless, content moderators (CMs) can be based worldwide and have varying working conditions. Therefore, there is a need for studies to be replicated to ensure that the results are robust. The current study used a large sample of commercial CMs employed by an international company to replicate the results from two previous studies that relied on an anonymous online survey. The results pertaining to mental health, wellbeing, and the effectiveness of wellbeing services for this population were mostly replicated. Over a quarter of CMs demonstrated moderate to severe psychological distress, and a quarter were experiencing low wellbeing. Further, the results suggest the potential utility for interventions that increase problem-focussed problem solving, as well as a need for the efficacy of wellbeing services to be evaluated more broadly.

Keywordsreplication; trust and safety; content moderation; mental health; wellbeing
Sustainable Development Goals3 Good health and well-being
Middlesex University ThemeHealth & Wellbeing
PublisherMDPI AG
JournalBehavioral Sciences
ISSN
Electronic2076-328X
Publication dates
Online08 Apr 2025
Print08 Apr 2025
Publication process dates
Submitted31 Jan 2025
Accepted24 Mar 2025
Deposited09 Apr 2025
Output statusPublished
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Copyright Statement

© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040487
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