The Role of Affect Regulation and Self-presentation in the Expressive Writing Intervention

NCT00831727 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 23614SSHRC 767-2007-2210-4
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 75
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of the present study is twofold. First, we will attempt to examine the role that emotion regulation and self-presentation play as potential moderators in the expressive writing paradigm. We hypothesize that expressive writing participants who demonstrate greater abilities to regulate their emotions at baseline will improve more on our outcome measures. We also hypothesize that those expressive writing participants who demonstrate higher levels of self-presentation at baseline will improve less on our outcome measures. The second aim of the study has two related objectives. First, we will attempt to investigate whether the expressive writing intervention can increase and enhance an individual's emotion regulation abilities. Related to this, we will then go on to examine whether emotion regulation can be looked at as a potential mechanism of action in the expressive writing procedure. Related to these two objectives, we hypothesize that in comparison to the control group, participants in the expressive writing condition will show increases in their ability to regulate their emotions from baseline to four week follow up. Moreover, we predict that greater gains in emotion regulation abilities for the expressive writing participants will be significantly related to greater gains in outcome measures.

Conditions

Posttraumatic Stress Disorders

Keywords

expressive writing; trauma; intervention; posttraumatic stress

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale

  Initial session; One month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale

  Initial session; One month follow-up

• Pennebaker Inventory of Limbic Languidness

  Initial session; One month follow-up

• Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition

  Initial session; One month follow-up

Study Arms (2)

Expressive Writing

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Expressive Writing

Control

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Behavioral: Control

Interventions

Expressive Writing BEHAVIORAL

Participants will write about their experienced trauma for 20 minutes on each of three consecutive days using techniques associated with expressive writing

Also known as: Emotional writing

Expressive Writing

Control BEHAVIORAL

Participants will write as factually as possible about an assigned trivial topic for 20 minutes on each of three consecutive days

Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Fluent in English
• Previously experienced trauma (not current or ongoing; excluding bereavement)
• Currently experiencing trauma-related distress

You may not qualify if:

• Currently involved in psychotherapy
• Currently taking psychotropic medications
• Imminent threat to self or others

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Toronto: lead

Study Sites (1)

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1V6, Canada

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Wounds and Injuries

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Jeanne C Watson, Ph.D.

  University of Toronto

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Justin M Mattina, M.A.

  University of Toronto

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Jonathan J Danson, B.A.

  University of Toronto

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 28, 2009
• First Posted: January 29, 2009
• Study Start: February 1, 2009
• Primary Completion: November 1, 2010
• Study Completion: November 1, 2010
• Last Updated: May 12, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-05

Locations

CA (1)