Comparing Targets of Expressive Writing

NCT ID: NCT06130020

Last Updated: 2025-07-17

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 159 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-11-10
• Study Completion Date: 2025-09-30

Brief Summary

Expressive writing involves writing about one's deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event. The current literature on the efficacy of expressive writing is mixed and warrants further investigation into how, when, and for whom expressive writing is an effective intervention. The goal of this study is to compare the efficacy of expressive writing interventions in young adults when people imagine that they're writing to themselves vs. a loved one. Participants will carry out an expressive writing exercise for 14 consecutive days. Participants are randomized into 3 groups: Self, Other, and Control. The Self group is instructed to write as if they were talking to themselves. The Other group is instructed to direct their writing to someone they feel close to. The Control group is asked to write down a factual description of their routine that day, and direct this writing to themselves. We will recruit participants until we have usable data from 53 participants per group (i.e., 159 in total).

Conditions

Healthy; Anxiety; Depression

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Self

The Self group is instructed to carry out the expressive writing exercise as if they were writing to themselves.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Expressive Writing: Self

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

This intervention consists of a daily expressive writing exercise carried out for 14 consecutive days, for 15 minutes each day. Expressive writing involves asking participants to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event. Participants in this condition will write as if they are writing to themselves.

Other

The Other group is instructed to carry out the expressive writing exercise as if they were writing to someone they feel close to.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Expressive Writing: Other

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

This intervention consists of a daily expressive writing exercise carried out for 14 consecutive days, for 15 minutes each day. Expressive writing involves asking participants to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event. Participants in this condition will write as if they are writing/talking to someone they're close to.

Control

The Control group is asked to write down a factual description of their routine that day, as if they were writing to themselves.

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Factual Writing

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

This intervention consists of a daily factual writing exercise carried out for 14 consecutive days, for 15 minutes each day. Participants are asked to give a factual description of their day. This is a standard control for Expressive writing studies. Participants in this condition will be asked to direct their writing to themselves.

Interventions

Expressive Writing: Self

This intervention consists of a daily expressive writing exercise carried out for 14 consecutive days, for 15 minutes each day. Expressive writing involves asking participants to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event. Participants in this condition will write as if they are writing to themselves.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Expressive Writing: Other

This intervention consists of a daily expressive writing exercise carried out for 14 consecutive days, for 15 minutes each day. Expressive writing involves asking participants to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event. Participants in this condition will write as if they are writing/talking to someone they're close to.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Factual Writing

This intervention consists of a daily factual writing exercise carried out for 14 consecutive days, for 15 minutes each day. Participants are asked to give a factual description of their day. This is a standard control for Expressive writing studies. Participants in this condition will be asked to direct their writing to themselves.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• US-based
• Fluent English
• Combined GAD-7 and PHQ-8 score of ≥ 5

Exclusion Criteria

• "Completion" of a writing session requires participants to spend at least 15 minutes on the writing page. We will monitor completion of the daily writing exercise, and will contact participants who miss or spend less than 15 minutes on the exercise. Participants who fail to complete 3 consecutive daily writing sessions will be deemed non-compliant, removed from the study, and paid a prorated amount for the tasks they have completed in the study.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 25 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Trustees of Princeton University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Erik Nook

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Erik Nook, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Princeton University

Locations

Peretsman Scully Hall

Princeton, New Jersey, United States

Countries

United States

References

Pennebaker JW, Beall SK. Confronting a traumatic event: toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. J Abnorm Psychol. 1986 Aug;95(3):274-81. doi: 10.1037//0021-843x.95.3.274. No abstract available.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 3745650 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

Princeton15734

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id