Expressive writing and posttraumatic growth: An Internet-based study.

Abstract

This explorative study examines the effects of an internet-based expressive writing intervention on posttraumatic growth. Participants were randomly assigned to either an expressive writing condition (n = 14) or a control writing condition (n = 10), with participants writing for 15 minutes on three separate occasions spaced 3 days apart. Measures of intrusive and avoidant trauma-related thoughts and posttraumatic growth were administered at baseline, 2 week and 8 week post-intervention follow-up. Results indicated that intrusive thoughts decreased and posttraumatic growth increased from baseline to 8 week follow-up in the expressive writing group. Further analyses of language use within the written essays suggested that greater use of insight words was associated with greater improvements in posttraumatic growth over the course of the study. Findings are discussed in the context of cognitive processing models of expressive writing. Implications for internet-administered expressive writing are also discussed.

Expressive writing as an intervention to decrease distress in pediatric critical care nurses

“…[51] Expressive writing and reflection are similar, although reflection is focused on a "critical analysis" of the event, [54] whereas expressive writing concentrates more on a simpler recounting of the event. [55] The literature provides many examples of how participating in an expressive writing intervention may improve mental [41,50,52,56] and physical health. [28,39] A new perspective regarding the past event and ability to handle new stressful situations may occur because of the "cognitive change".…”

Written Emotional Disclosure Paradigm: Effects on Posttraumatic Stress Symtoms and Posttraumatic Growth among Spouses of Cancer Patients

“…Ayrýca bazý araþtýrmalar açýða vurmalarýn evde gerçekleþtirilmesinin saðlýðý daha fazla geliþtirebileceðine dikkat çekmektedir (26). Bu nedenle gelecek çalýþmalarda evde yürütülen ya da internet ortamýnda gerçekleþtirilen yazma seanslarýnýn (40,55,62) test edilmesinin önemli olacaðý söylenebilir.…”

Using online blogs to explore positive outcomes after burn injuries

“…First, this study involved active burn survivor bloggers, so the results cannot be generalised across the wider burn survivor population. A recent study by Stockton et al (2014) has found that trauma sufferers who expressively wrote about their experiences showed an increase in post-traumatic growth, compared to a control writing group who were asked not to make reference to feelings or opinions, or their traumatic experience. Therefore, the data from this population cannot be generalised to non-blogging burn survivors.…”