Research suggests college students with high incidence disabilities experience more distress than their peers without disabilities as they adapt to college. The expressive writing paradigm developed by Pennebaker and Beall (1986) effectively reduced distress in college students and other nonclinical samples when participants wrote about emotions they experienced surrounding an upsetting event. Previous research on expressive writing has not addressed the effectiveness of the paradigm with students with disabilities. A randomized control trial study examined changes in distress and daily hassles for participants with disabilities who engaged in expressive writing compared to a control condition in which participants wrote about non-emotional topics. Emotional competencies and coping were also explored as possible proximal outcomes, while distress at baseline and social support were explored as possible moderators of expressive writing outcomes. Fifty seven students, 51% male and mostly European-American (83.6%), from a large, public university and a local community college both in the Southeastern United States, wrote for 15 minutes on three consecutive days on their own personal computers, with assessment at pre-test, post-test and 30-day follow-up. Expressive writing did not significantly decrease stress or daily hassles, nor did treatment condition differ from the control condition on any of the factors examined. Discussion of participant factors explored possible ceiling effects due to low baseline distress scores and possible limitations related to employing a sample of students with disabilities who are currently receiving college-level support services. Other methodological and procedural issues were also discussed as they relate to best expressive writing practices as well as meeting the needs of students with disabilities. For example, although use of the computer for writing was deemed important for this group of participants, longer writing sessions that may be necessary to impact psychological outcomes could be difficult for students with disabilities. Future directions include qualitative analysis of writing samples in order to develop areas of concern for this population, beginning and ending expressive writing to align with the college academic calendar, as well as use of a control group without disabilities in order to control for baseline levels of distress. This document was created in Microsoft Word 2003.

Bereavement is an important research area as it can result in grief reactions that lead to serious psychological and health consequences, particularly for the at-risk group of emerging adults (Arnett, 2000; Balk, Walker, & Baker, 2010; Fisher, Murray, & Frazer, 1985; Stroebe, Schut, & Stroebe, 2007). Expressive writing is a well-researched intervention for trauma and adjustment, yet research repeatedly has revealed null results with the classic Pennebaker paradigm as a bereavement intervention (Stroebe et al., 2002; Stroebe, Schut, & Stroebe, 2006). It may be premature, however, to conclude expressive writing is ineffective for the bereaved due to limitations in extant research. For example, Pennebaker’s paradigm is based on the premise that participants freely choose the stressful topic to write about, whereas expressive writing bereavement studies have required participants to write about their loss (Collison & Gramling, manuscript in preparation). The present study reports on data from a larger study (Konig, Eonta, Dyal, & Vrana, 2014; N=246) that assessed psychological and physiological outcomes in college students who wrote about a traumatic stressor using Pennebaker’s paradigm. This provided the opportunity to rigorously test it with bereavement and compare death loss to other forms of trauma. Analyses examined the impact of expressive writing with the bereaved who freely identified death loss as the traumatic stressor (n=69) and were randomly assigned to either emotional disclosure or control writing on outcome measures of physical symptoms (PILL), event-related distress (DTS), and depression (CES-D). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; Pennebaker, Mayne, & Francis, 1997) and Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA; Campbell & Pennebaker, 2003) results were also used to compare these groups. Exploratory analyses investigated potential differences between the bereaved and those who endorsed a non-bereavement trauma (“other trauma”; n=71) using outcome measures and text analytic techniques (i.e., PILL, DTS, CES-D; LIWC, LSA). Results were consistent with findings from previous expressive writing studies with the bereaved, in that the intervention resulted in no detectable benefits when compared with control writing. No remarkable differences between the bereaved and “other trauma” participants emerged. Researchers’ time may be better spent examining more clinically relevant writing exercises for bereavement interventions.

<p>Den amerikanske psykologen James W. Pennebaker introducerade på 1980- talet en ny metod där man skulle hantera sina känslor genom att skriva - att ”skriva sig frisk”. Metoden kallas ”Expressive Writing”.</p><p>Med hjälp av metoden ”Expressive Writing” har jag i en empiristyrd studie fått inblick i psykologistuderandes expressiva material. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att beskriva innehållet i det expressiva materialet och undersöka om det förekommer könsskillnader i texternas innehåll och sättet att skriva. Sju deltagare, tre kvinnor och fyra män, fick i uppgift att på en avskild plats skriva ner sina innersta och djupaste tankar tre dagar i följd. Varje skrivsession varade i 20 minuter. Med hjälp av tematisk analys togs följande teman fram: förändring och existentiella frågor, att jämföra sig med andra, relationer, skuld, kontroll, samhällsfrågor, omsorg, ensamhet. I resultatdelen sammanfattas respektive tema. Teman som bäst belyser det expressiva materialet var förändring och att jämföra sig med andra. Möjliga könsskillnader kan finnas gällande att fatta beslut och på vilket sätt man jämför sig med andra. Samt temana omsorg och samhällsfrågor som enbart männen skrev om.</p><p> </p>

Den amerikanske psykologen James W. Pennebaker introducerade på 1980- talet en ny metod där man skulle hantera sina känslor genom att skriva - att ”skriva sig frisk”. Metoden kallas ”Expressive Writing”. Med hjälp av metoden ”Expressive Writing” har jag i en empiristyrd studie fått inblick i psykologistuderandes expressiva material. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att beskriva innehållet i det expressiva materialet och undersöka om det förekommer könsskillnader i texternas innehåll och sättet att skriva. Sju deltagare, tre kvinnor och fyra män, fick i uppgift att på en avskild plats skriva ner sina innersta och djupaste tankar tre dagar i följd. Varje skrivsession varade i 20 minuter. Med hjälp av tematisk analys togs följande teman fram: förändring och existentiella frågor, att jämföra sig med andra, relationer, skuld, kontroll, samhällsfrågor, omsorg, ensamhet. I resultatdelen sammanfattas respektive tema. Teman som bäst belyser det expressiva materialet var förändring och att jämföra sig med andra. Möjliga könsskillnader kan finnas gällande att fatta beslut och på vilket sätt man jämför sig med andra. Samt temana omsorg och samhällsfrågor som enbart männen skrev om.

Two decades of research suggest that a non-specific style of autobiographical memory retrieval–known as overgeneral memory–may be a cognitive style that increases depression vulnerability. Recent theorizing and empirical evidence suggest the mechanisms underlying overgeneral memory include rumination and avoidance. This study provided a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of an expressive writing intervention, which has been found to reduce rumination and avoidance, in reducing overgeneral memory, with the ultimate goal of preventing future depressive symptoms among non-depressed college students. Two hundred and seven non-depressed college students completed the expressive writing intervention, in addition to a one-month and six month follow-up assessment. Participants were randomized one of three writing conditions: traditional expressive writing, specific expressive writing, or control writing. Participants in the traditional and specific expressive writing conditions were instructed to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings about an emotional event; the specific expressive writing condition contained the additional instruction that participants describe the events in a vivid and detailed manner. Participants in the control condition were instructed to write about a neutral topic (i.e., time management). All groups wrote for 20 minutes on three consecutive days. Study results showed that compared to participants in the control writing condition, participants in the traditional and specific expressive writing conditions demonstrated significantly greater autobiographical memory specificity at the six-month follow-up, but not at the one-month follow-up. Furthermore, the observed increase in autobiographical memory specificity for the expressive writing conditions could not be attributed to change in depressive symptoms over the same time interval. Results revealed that the effect of the traditional expressive writing intervention on increased autobiographical memory specificity was partially mediated by a reduction in avoidance assessed at the one-month follow-up. The hypothesis that rumination would partially mediate the effect of the expressive writing intervention on increased autobiographical memory specificity was not supported. Despite preliminary evidence that an expressive writing intervention compared to a control wiring condition is effective in increasing autobiographical memory specificity over a six-month period for initially non-depressed college students, it remains to be seen if increased autobiographical memory specificity decreases vulnerability to future depressive symptoms. / text

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study investigates the use of expressive writing in the L2 classroom as the mainstay approach to help students improve their writing skills. This study focuses on literacy pedagogy as it is manifested in the understanding and experiences by tertiary L2 students engaging in the practice of expressive writing on a longitudinal basis. This qualitative case study design, guided by interpretive epistemology, was used to collect students’ views, perceptions, and suggestions on their experiences in writing. This study has been prompted by the fact that tertiary L2 students have a huge problem expressing themselves on paper. This study consists of two groups of students, one being the noticeable group and the other being the distinguished group. The aim of this study was to identify the kinds of strategies that could assist L2 students with English Language writing tasks. Academic writing requires a conscious effort and much practice in composing, developing, and analysing ideas. At a tertiary institution in the Western Cape, L2 students have the daunting task of not only dealing with new subjects at the university, but they also have to deal with writing in English which is a challenging endeavour for most them. This presents them with social and cognitive challenges related to second language acquisition. Since L2 students do not often consider the social contexts in which L2 academic writing takes place, models of L1 writing instruction and research on composing processes are often found wanting changes in their L2 writing pedagogy. In light of this, my study investigated the language proficiency and competence as the cornerstone of the ability to write in the L2 in a fundamental way. I not only used an open-ended procedure in my classroom that promoted interaction in the classroom but also paved the way for contact between literature of daily living/evolutionary nature and experience. Strategy development and language skill development should be taken into account when working with L2 students. I used a descriptive design when dealing with the qualitative methodology and a verbal and written protocol analysis method to analyse my data. I conducted interviews with the 14 participating L2 students. My research questions were designed to investigate what instructional approaches motivated and engaged my participants to persist in successive writing performance. The findings suggest that the students benefited from the use of various activities to promote creative writing, tentative understanding, provisional interpretation and enjoyment of texts related to daily living. I believe that the exam score supports these indications. Based on the low fail rate, I believe that literature of an evolutionary nature has motivated, challenged and encouraged students to gain confidence in their writing. When I ponder on the holistic view of my findings, this study endorses the use of expressive writing in the educational practice of expressive writing. Expressive writing as an educational practice can lay the ground work for students to become better writers, thinkers and citizens.

A limited number of studies have examined mechanisms undergirding interventions that mitigate mental health problems or health-risk behaviors that disproportionately burden sexual minorities. A recent trial of expressive writing and self-affirmation writing found that these brief interventions had salubrious effects on mental health and health-risk behaviors; the present research examines the putative mechanisms underlying these effects. Sexual minority emerging adults (N = 108) completed a brief online expressive writing, self-affirmation writing, or neutral control writing intervention and, at baseline and 3-month follow-up, completed measures of mental health, health-risk behaviors, stress, and self-regulation. Expressive writing yielded improvements in mental health and these effects were mediated by reductions in perceived stress. Self-affirmation caused improvements in health-risk behaviors, thoughneither stress nor self-regulation mediated these effects. This finding provides preliminary novel evidence regarding a mechanism underlying a widely used psychological intervention with documented mental health benefits for sexual minorities and other populations disproportionately affected by stress

<p>  </p> <p>Romantic breakups are a relatively common life event for college students, with as many as 98% of young adults reporting having experienced a breakup at any point in their past (Mirsu-Paun & Oliver, 2017). Although the events are common, breakups have been associated with several adverse outcomes, including loneliness and social isolation (Field et al., 2009; Larson & Sbarra, 2015), onset of major depressive disorder (Monroe et al., 1999), increased anxious and depressive symptoms (Samios et al., 2014), and suicidal ideation (Mirsu-Paun & Oliver, 2017). A common source of support for students experiencing adverse outcomes from a breakup has historically been university counseling centers, which have reported continued increases in the demand for counseling services (Xiao et al., 2017). Indeed, a clear need exists for interventions to support students experiencing a breakup, especially interventions that are low-resource and easy to implement in a variety of ways.</p> <p>One such low-resource intervention is the use of expressive writing interventions, such as the kind frequently used by Pennebaker (2017). An extensive body of literature exists supporting the use of expressive writing interventions as an effective means to reduce an array of possible adverse outcomes, including physical health problems and anxious and depressive symptoms (see Collison, 2016; or Reinhold et al., 2018 for a review). However, researchers have also found inconsistent support for the use of expressive writing interventions, including meta-analytic findings showing no long-term benefits from engaging in expressive writing (Collison, 2016; Reinhold et al., 2018).</p> <p>One area of the expressive writing literature that may explain the inconsistent findings is the use of targeted writing prompts, or writing instructions that target specific components of an individual’s experience, or encourage them to interpret a stressful event in a new way (Lichtenthal & Cruess, 2010; Ullrich & Lutgendorf, 2003). An example of this is Facchin et al. (2014), who found a benefit finding writing prompt led to a greater decrease in distress than a more “standard” expressive writing prompt in a study of adolescents’ adjustment to a new school.</p> <p>In the present study, I examined the extent to which expressive writing conditions impacted college students’ reports of breakup distress, suicidal ideation, intrusive thoughts, and perceived gains compared to a control writing condition. Additionally, I examined the extent to which targeted expressive writing conditions reduced breakup distress differentially compared to a standard emotional expression writing condition.</p> <p>Using an experimental design, I randomly assigned 73 college students to one of 4 expressive writing conditions. Participants in each condition completed pretest measures and completed 15-minute expressive writing tasks on 3 consecutive days, followed by completing posttest measures. I analyzed the data using a series of ANCOVAs, and I conducted four paired-samples t-tests to assess any differences that existed regardless of expressive writing condition.</p> <p>No significant differences emerged among the four expressive writing conditions, and the two targeted expressive writing conditions were not statistically different from the standard expressive writing condition. Paired-samples t-tests revealed significant decreases in breakup distress and intrusive thoughts, as well as a significant increase in perceived gains. The results may support the use of expressive writing interventions in attempting to reduce breakup distress in college students experiencing romantic breakups. The results did not support the differential impact of writing condition, suggesting that the act of writing itself may be more important than the specific writing prompt individuals respond to. The findings could possibly aid clinicians in college counseling centers in treating individuals presenting for services following a breakup, as well as providing outreach programs to students, or providing expressive writing activities as self-guided, self-help resources. </p>

Although we have several therapeutic interventions for depression, we lack an understanding of the mechanisms that underlie these interventions. To gain a better understanding of the mental health conditions we treat, diagnoses we make, and interventions we use, mechanistic understandings are necessary. There is evidence that exposure to depressive emotion and cognitions can yield therapeutic outcome. The current study examines the physiology associated with an intervention, expressive writing (EW), which other research has shown to produce therapeutic outcomes because it increases exposure to negative feelings. The current study tests the hypothesis that EW increases depressive emotion, cognition, and physiology. Depression has been associated with decreased respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and increased heart rate (HR). RSA and HR were measured while participants did either EW or a control writing (CW) task. Because measures of RSA can be confounded by respiratory rate (RR), RR was also measured and statistically controlled for. Results revealed that EW does not alter RSA or HR. Interestingly, exploratory regression analyses between HR and RR during EW suggest that EW might trigger exposure to a depressive physiological state. Further investigation into the relationship between HR and RR during EW is warranted. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / The current study examines the emotion, cognition, and physiology associated with an intervention, expressive writing (EW), which is commonly used as a treatment for anxiety and depression. Research has suggested that EW produces therapeutic outcome because it increases exposure to negative feelings. The current study tests the hypothesis that EW increases depressive emotion, cognition, and physiology. Results suggest that EW increases depressive emotion and cognition but does not alter some of the physiological parameters that have been associated with depression in prior research. An unpredicted exploratory result was that EW affected the relationship between heart rate and respiratory rate. Further investigation into the relationship between heart rate and respiratory rate during EW is warranted.

The transition to college can introduce new roles, opportunities, and challenges for growth and adjustment. Effective management of these challenges promotes personal adjustment and academic success (Chemers, Hu, and Garcia, 2001). However, difficulty in managing aspects of this transition introduces risks for dysfunction in emotional, social, and academic areas (Heiligenstein and Guenther, 1996). These risks are exacerbated for students who from underrepresented backgrounds at their college and within their field of study (Strayhorn, 2012). Among undergraduates, expressive writing interventions have been used to improve adjustment. These brief activities of self-reflection were originally used to address past hurts and have been adapted to attend to life's benefits. Reflections on both negative and positive life experiences have been tied to improvements in well-being, social success, and physical health (Emmons and McCullough, 2003; Sloan and Marx, 2004). This is the first study to directly compare effects of expressive writings focused on strong negative emotional experiences with effects of writings focused on positive emotional experiences (gratitude). Furthermore, questions remain about mechanisms of influence for these two writing paradigms. The current study tested the influence of these paradigms on student adjustment during the college transition, and assessed emotion mechanisms specific to each writing paradigm. One hundred sixty-one incoming college students were recruited into an online study during the fall semester. Students reported on emotional, social, and academic outcomes at the third, fifth, and eighth weeks of the incoming academic semester. Students were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups: a group writing on emotion-focused prompts; a group writing on gratitude-focused prompts; and a control group with no assigned writings. During the fourth week of the semester, students in the experimental groups spent four days writing about their respective group prompts. Students in the emotion-focused writing group showed improvements in willingness to share intimate life events with others (i.e., length of writing, comfort with self-disclosure, recent heart-to-heart conversations). Students in the gratitude-focused writing group showed increases and maintenance of psychological resources (i.e., life satisfaction, involvement in group meetings, instances of studying). I discuss the implications of these findings below. / Ph. D.