Expressive Writing and Well-Being During the Transition to College: Comparison of Emotion-Disclosing and Gratitude-Focused Writing

Booker, Jordan A.; Dunsmore, Julie C.

doi:10.1521/jscp.2017.36.7.580

Cited by 25 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Approximately half of the studies (n=44 [42-48,50,53,55,56,58-61,63,65,66,72,73, 76-78,81,87-90,93,95,98,99,101-104,106,108,110,116-118, 122,125]) targeted undergraduate students exclusively. Most studies included were focused on either universal prevention programs (n=36 [43,48,53,54,63-67,70-73,75-78,90,91, 94,95,97,99,100,102,106-108,110-112,114,118,119,125,126]), or on treatment intervention programs (n=22 [41,49,50,52, 58,69,74,79,80,83-86,88,89,92,98,113,117,120,122,127]).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of these studies (n=46 [43-48,51-55,57-59, 62,65-67,69,72,76-78,86,87,113,116,119,120,122,124-127,131]) took place in the United States. As seen in Multimedia Appendix 2, several studies also took place in the United Kingdom (n=6 [60,73,75,80,96,114]), Ireland (n=5 [83-85,117,123]), Australia (n=5 [50,61,74,109,115]), Canada (n=5 [42,49,81,102,103]), and China (n=5 [70,71,89,91,100]).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of interventions studied offered some level of support or guidance to users—many of these interventions featured coaching from a human (n=33 [41,49-51,58 ,62-66,69,71,73,74,76,79,82-88,94,101,104,105,107,116,122,123,128,129]), whereas others featured automated support (n=18 [44,48, 53,57,59,67,70,77,91,98-101,106,108,112,113,115]), such as prescripted emails. Several studies examined self-guided interventions (n=33 [42,43,45,46,52,54-56,60,61,68,72,75,78, 80,81,89,90,92,93,95,97,102,103,109-111,114,118,119,121,124,125]) in which the participants only had contact with the study staff for research assessments; few studies focused on technology as an adjunct to therapy (n=5 [47,86,100,120,126]), 2 studies provided peer support [96,117], and 1 study had an unclear presence of support (n=1 [127]).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As seen in Multimedia Appendix 3, the majority of studies reported that the digital mental health intervention(s) of interest were either effective (eg, improvements were observed in all main outcomes; n=42 [41,42,45,47-51,54,56,57,59,60,62,63, 68,71,78,79,84-89,92,93,100,101,103,112,113,115,120,122,123,125, 127,128,131]) or partially effective (eg, improvements were observed in some main outcomes; n=30 [43,44,52,53,58,61, 65,67,69,70,72-77,80-82,90,91,94-97,99,102,108, 111,124]) in producing beneficial changes in the main psychological outcome variables. A minority of studies reported on interventions that were not effective (n=10 [46,55,64,66,98,114,117]) or did not report on psychological outcomes and focused on program usage or usability (n=6 [116,118,119,121,126,129]).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Digital Mental Health Interventions for Depression, Anxiety, and Enhancement of Psychological Well-Being Among College Students: Systematic Review

Lattie¹,

Adkins²,

Winquist³

et al. 2019

J Med Internet Res

538

340

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Background College students are increasingly reporting common mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, and they frequently encounter barriers to seeking traditional mental health treatments. Digital mental health interventions, such as those delivered via the Web and apps, offer the potential to improve access to mental health treatment. Objective This study aimed to review the literature on digital mental health interventions focused on depression, anxiety, and enhancement of psychological well-being among samples of college students to identify the effectiveness, usability, acceptability, uptake, and adoption of such programs. Methods We conducted a systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (registration number CRD42018092800), and the search strategy was conducted by a medical research librarian in the following databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Elsevier), PsycINFO (EbscoHost), the Cochrane Library (Wiley), and Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) from the date of inception to April 2019. Data were synthesized using a systematic narrative synthesis framework, and formal quality assessments were conducted to address the risk of bias. Results A total of 89 studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of interventions (71/89, 80%) were delivered via a website, and the most common intervention was internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (28, 31%). Many programs (33, 37%) featured human support in the form of coaching. The majority of programs were either effective (42, 47%) or partially effective (30, 34%) in producing beneficial changes in the main psychological outcome variables. Approximately half of the studies (45, 51%) did not present any usability or acceptability outcomes, and few studies (4, 4%) examined a broad implementation of digital mental health interventions on college campuses. Quality assessments revealed a moderate-to-severe risk of bias in many of the studies. Conclusions Results suggest that digital mental health interventions can be effective for improving depression, anxiety, and psychological well-being among college students, but more rigorous studies are needed to ascertain the effective elements of these interventions. Continued research on improving the user experience of, and thus user engagement with, these programs appears vital for the sustainable implementation of digital mental health interventions on college campuses.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Digital Mental Health Interventions for Depression, Anxiety, and Enhancement of Psychological Well-Being Among College Students: Systematic Review

Lattie¹,

Adkins²,

Winquist³

et al. 2019

J Med Internet Res

538

340

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A significant body of literature links EW to improved emotional and physical health outcomes for healthy college students (Alparone, Pagliaro, & Ilaria 2015) including: fewer health center visits (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986), less depression severity (Booker & Dunsmore, 2017), improved self-esteem (Mum, 2014), less self-criticism (Troop, Chilcot, Hutchings, & Varnaite, 2012), less sleep difficulty (Arigo & Smyth, 2011) and decreased intrusive thoughts (Boals, 2012). Among Chinese undergraduates, EW improved psychological, social, and physical health (Yang, Tang, Duan, & Zhang, 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Expressive Writing: A Self-Care Intervention for First Year Undergraduates

Kennison¹,

Lamb²,

Ponder³

et al. 2019

BHAC

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Background: As incoming students grapple with stress and traumatic experiences at alarming rates, faculty and institutions are increasingly promoting resilience and self-care activities. Expressive writing (EW) may be an underutilized self-care practice for addressing students' stressful or traumatic experiences.Aim: This pilot study aimed to describe the effects of an expressive writing (EW) intervention on participants' mental and physical health and stress levels.Methods: The study design was mixed methods. The convenience sample of 32 undergraduate participants were assigned, every other one, to either an EW intervention group who wrote about a stressful or traumatic experience (n = 18), or a neutral writing (NW) group (n = 14) who wrote about trivial topics. Data regarding sample characteristics, cortisol level, quality of life, and impact of the EW intervention were collected via a demographic survey, the SF-36v2® Health Survey (Maruish, 2011), salivary sampling and exit survey, respectively.Results: Comparison of SF-36v2® pre- to post-test demonstrated higher gains in mental health in the experimental group, relative to the control group. Fourteen (44% of total group) reported that they would recommend EW to a friend to help with stressful or traumatic experiences.Conclusions: EW may support first year undergraduates' self-care related to addressing past or current stressful or traumatic situations.

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Comparing the effects of emotional disclosure and peer helping writing on psychological distress among Chinese international students: The moderating role of rumination

2021

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Objectives: This study tested the effects of emotional disclosure writing and peer helping writing in reducing psychological distress among Chinese international students. This study also examined whether rumination and ambivalence over emotion expression moderated the effects of emotional disclosure and peer helping writing.Method: One hundred forty-four Chinese international students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: emotional disclosure, peer helping, or neutral control writing. Participants completed two 20-min writing sessions and questionnaires at baseline, 2-month follow-up, and 4-month follow-up.Results: We found no significant differences across the three writing conditions in levels of psychological distress over time. However, rumination emerged as a significant moderator in both emotional disclosure and peer helping intervention conditions. High ruminators generally experienced significant reductions in depressive symptoms, whereas low ruminators experienced increased depressive symptoms.Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that the benefits of writing interventions may vary as a function of rumination.

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Expressive Writing and Well-Being During the Transition to College: Comparison of Emotion-Disclosing and Gratitude-Focused Writing

Cited by 25 publications

References 42 publications

Digital Mental Health Interventions for Depression, Anxiety, and Enhancement of Psychological Well-Being Among College Students: Systematic Review

Digital Mental Health Interventions for Depression, Anxiety, and Enhancement of Psychological Well-Being Among College Students: Systematic Review

Expressive Writing: A Self-Care Intervention for First Year Undergraduates

Comparing the effects of emotional disclosure and peer helping writing on psychological distress among Chinese international students: The moderating role of rumination

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