Effects of Narrative Writing Duration and Post-writing Processing Instructions on PTSD

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

49 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2012-02-29

Study Completion Date

2014-05-31

Brief Summary

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The current study proposes to directly measure how processing after participating in written disclosure about a traumatic life event affects physical and psychological outcomes.

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Detailed Description

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Previous research has established the potential for narrative writing about traumatic events to result in positive benefits for physical and psychological health. Research has also provided evidence that written disclosure may reduce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Several mechanisms of action have been proposed to explain why written disclosure produces positive benefits, but all have focused on processes occurring during the writing session. It has been suggested, however, that additional processing may occur after the writing exercises are over, yet no research has studied the influence of this processing on outcomes. The current study proposes to directly measure how processing after participating in written disclosure affects physical and psychological outcomes.

Conditions

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Control

Individuals will write objectively about the events of their day.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Narrative Writing: Trauma-Assigned

Trauma-assigned: Individuals will write about their most traumatic life experience and be instructed to continue to think about their writing topic in the weeks following writing.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Narrative Writing: Trauma-Assigned

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Individuals will be writing about their most traumatic life event for 3 consecutive days for 20 minutes each. Those in the assigned group will be given instructions and weekly reminders to continue to think about their most traumatic event.

Narrative Writing: Trauma-Spontaneous

Individuals will write about their most traumatic life experience but will not be given further instructions for processing. Any additional processing about their writing topic in the weeks following writing will be considered spontaneous.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Narrative Writing: Trauma-Spontaneous

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Individuals will be writing about their most traumatic life event for 3 consecutive days for 20 minutes each. Those in the spontaneous group will be given no further instructions.

Interventions

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Narrative Writing: Trauma-Assigned

Individuals will be writing about their most traumatic life event for 3 consecutive days for 20 minutes each. Those in the assigned group will be given instructions and weekly reminders to continue to think about their most traumatic event.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Narrative Writing: Trauma-Spontaneous

Individuals will be writing about their most traumatic life event for 3 consecutive days for 20 minutes each. Those in the spontaneous group will be given no further instructions.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL