Can effects of expressive writing be enhanced using an emotion processing model from psychotherapy research?

Abstract

Expressive writing (EW) has been demonstrated to have positive if modest impacts on wellbeing with minimal draw upon resources. The present study tested an EW intervention modified by an emotion transformation model deriving from process psychotherapy research in emotion focused therapy (Pascual-Leone, 2009; Pascual-Leone & Greenberg, 2007). Participants were University students (N = 96) recruited into a randomised double-blind control trial and assigned to one of three conditions: Controls, neutral writing; Classic, standard EW instructions to write about an upsetting or traumatic event; Experimental, standard EW instructions modified by the emotion transformation model using stem sentences as prompts. Participants attended three 15-minute writing sessions over one week and were followed up one month later; outcomes included physical health and psychological symptoms. The mediating effects of language use were also investigated to contrast with Pennebaker's (1993) cognitive processing theory in explaining the effects of EW, using language processing software LIWC (Pennebaker, Booth & Francis, 2007) and bootstrapped regression analysis (Hayes, 2009). Preliminary data from mixed ANOVAe suggest weak impact of experimental condition on psychological symptom outcomes, but significant differences were observed between Classic and Experimental conditions in use of positive and negative words and cognitive mechanism words. Variations in response to experimental condition indicate participants respond differently to the modified EW instructions.