Although childhood trauma (CT) can increase risk of psychological distress, self-stigma remains a key barrier to treatment-seeking among those experiencing difficulties, and few scalable interventions exist. This study aimed to replicate and extend prior research on brief-video interventions designed to reduce self-stigma and increase treatment-seeking intentions in adults with CT. We examined two potential moderators: the viewer's emotional engagement and the gender of the video protagonist. We hypothesized that (1) the intervention would reduce self-stigma and enhance treatment-seeking intentions, (2) higher engagement would be associated with greater efficacy, and (3) gender-matched protagonists would yield stronger effects. Participants ( N = 789) reporting CT exposure (assessed using the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire) were randomized to a female-narrated intervention ( n = 324), a male-narrated intervention ( n = 304), or a psychoeducational control video ( n = 161). Outcomes included openness to treatment-seeking and self-stigma-related attitudes (shame, secrecy, alienation, recovery). Analyses compared baseline and post-intervention scores and tested engagement and viewer–protagonist gender match as moderators. All groups improved in stigma-related outcomes over time. However, only the intervention groups showed greater increases in treatment-seeking openness compared to control. Higher engagement was associated with greater improvements across outcomes. Participants who viewed the female-narrated video reported greater improvement in recovery-related beliefs than those who viewed the male-narrated version. No advantage emerged for viewer-protagonist gender matching. Brief video interventions may reduce stigma and promote treatment-seeking intentions among CT survivors, particularly when emotional engagement is heightened. Further research should clarify mechanisms and boundary conditions of gender-related effects. • Brief videos increased treatment openness in adults with childhood trauma. • Emotional engagement was linked to greater stigma reduction. • Female-narrated video improved recovery-related beliefs more than male version. • Gender match between the viewer and protagonist showed no added effect
Amsalem et al. (Wed,) studied this question.