A comparison of written exposure with and without rescripting for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder

Abstract

The present study examined whether written exposure enhanced with rescripting is more efficacious in reducing GAD symptoms, worry, and related cognitive difficulties than written exposure to the same worst-case scenario or neutral writing. Adults with GAD (N = 67) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions and engaged in 30-minute writing sessions on 3 consecutive days: (1) worst-case scenario exposure; WE (2) written exposure with rescripting; RWE (3) Neutral Control; NC. Participants in both exposure conditions displayed significant reductions in worry and fear of emotions from baseline to 1-month follow-up, but NC participants did not. Participants in the RWE condition also displayed significant improvements in negative problem orientation, perceived cost of the feared scenario, and coping; participants in the WE or NC did not. Findings suggest that overall, RWE was not superior to WE; both written exposure interventions have strong potential to help individuals who suffer from GAD.