Linguistic Markers of the Emotion Elaboration Surrounding the Confinement Period in the Italian Epicenter of COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

The expressive writing method has rarely been proposed in contexts of large-scale upheavals that affect large populations. In this study this method was applied as an intervention and tool of investigation during the confinement period in the Lombardy region, the Italian Epicenter of COVID-19 outbreak. Sixty-four participants took part in an online expressive writing project, and a total of 167 writings were collected together with some self-report evaluations on emotions and physical sensations. A linguistic analysis through two different sets of computerized linguistic measures was conducted on the collected writings in order to study the linguistic markers of emotion regulation and elaboration. Results indicated that online expressive writing has helped respondents to get more in touch with the intense emotions that were experienced following the upheavals they witnessed. Writing even only once or twice helped, particularly those respondents who had at least one COVID-19 patient among close friends or relatives. Their writings showed an intense emotional involvement together with the ability to reflect and reorganize the personal meaning of the events and emotions experienced. This study shows that expressive writing can be used in the context of a psychological emergency, both as a powerful instrument to investigate and detect the complex psychodynamic processes underpinning the distress, and as a useful intervention to reduce the negative impact of traumatic events.

COVID-19-Related Fear and Anxiety: Spiritual-Religious Coping in Healthcare Workers in Portugal

“…Self-reports are subject to some biases and limitations, such as, social-desirability bias [ 53 ]. In future investigations, it might be interesting to explore this topic through other methods, as the expressive writing, method used to communicate intense emotions during catastrophic events [ 54 , 55 ].…”

Individual and community psychological experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic: The state of emergency in Portugal

“…These results on individuals exposed to risk of COVID-19 infection at work are unexpected, to some degree. It is possible that they may relate to the resources people activate to face the emergency and the meaning given to life during a traumatic event (Negri et al, 2020 ). Milman at al.…”

Effects of an Existential Nursing Intervention for College Students in the COVID-19 Pandemic Situation

“…A recent study confirmed that depression and anxiety are prevalent among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 46 , 47 , 48 ]. In previous studies [ 21 , 49 ], meaning making mediated pandemic depression while expressive writing positively influenced emotion. As Reverté-Villarroya et al [ 14 ] emphasized, there is a desperate need for interventions that manage the negative emotions of college students, and LAC is regarded as a viable intervention strategy.…”

“…Milman et al [ 20 ] found that discovering meaning has mediated social isolation and mitigated coronavirus anxiety during the pandemic. In Negri et al’s study [ 21 ], an expressive-writing intervention facilitated reflecting on and reorganizing the personal meaning of negative events and elaborating emotions during COVID-19 confinement. Logotherapy, also known as meaning-centered psychotherapy, is a psychological intervention proposed by the developer Viktor Frankl [ 22 ] that aims to help individuals discover the meaning of life through creative, experimental, and attitude values based on existential psychotherapy.…”