The Therapeutic Effect of Expressive Writing.

NCT07567157 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2526.RCHT.44
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 50
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to understand the impact of compassionate expressive writing in people living with and beyond cancer. The main question it aims to answer is: Does compassionate expressive writing have any impact on well-being outcomes in people living with and beyond cancer, such as body compassion, self-compassion, quality of life and psychological well-being outcomes ? Researchers will compare compassionate expressive writing with a standard expressive writing task (with no compassionate prompt) to see if there is a difference in self-reported body compassion, self-compassion, quality of life and psychological well-being outcomes between the two conditions. Participants will : Complete a series of pre-intervention questionnaires. Be assigned to one of the two writing conditions. Attend four expressive writing sessions and write freely for approximately 20 minutes in response to a topic related to their cancer experience. Complete a series of post-intervention questionnaires. Repeat the questionnaires at 1-month follow-up.

Conditions

Cancer

Keywords

Self-Compassion; Expressive Writing; Cancer

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Self-Compassion

  The Self-Compassion Scale and the Body-Compassion Questionnaire will be used to measure self-compassion.

  Assessment of change between the first writing session and the final writing session 4 weeks later and then again at 1 month following the completion of the final session. Assessed for a duration of 8 weeks.

• Well-Being

  WHO-5 (World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index) will be used to measure well-being.

  Assessment of change between the first writing session and the final writing session 4 weeks later and then again at 1 month following the completion of the final session. Assessed for a duration of 8 weeks.

• Health-related Quality of Life

  The FACT-G (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General) will be used to measure quality of life.

  Assessment of change between the first writing session and the final writing session 4 weeks later and then again at 1 month following the completion of the final session. Assessed for a duration of 8 weeks.

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Writing Experience

  Assessed at the end of each of the four writing session, and again at one month following the completion of the final writing session. Assessed over 8 weeks.

Other Outcomes (2)

• Pre-Intervention Data

  This will be assessed at enrolment on a single occasion.

• Screening

  At recruitment.

Study Arms (2)

Standard Expressive Writing

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

A standard expressive writing condition that will follow the same topic and process as the experimental writing condition but will not include a compassionate writing prompt.

Behavioral: Standard Expressive Writing

Compassionate Expressive Writing

EXPERIMENTAL

An expressive writing condition that will include a compassionate prompt at the start that will encourage participants to be compassionate towards themselves and their experiences when writing.

Behavioral: Compassionate Expressive Writing

Interventions

Compassionate Expressive Writing BEHAVIORAL

A 20-minute practitioner-led expressive writing session that involves the practitioner introducing a topic related to cancer such as, the impact of diagnosis/treatment on relationships with others, with ones body, with the world. Participants are encouraged to write freely and are prompted to remain compassionate towards themselves and their experience at the start of the writing session.

Compassionate Expressive Writing

Standard Expressive Writing BEHAVIORAL

A 20-minute practitioner-led expressive writing session that involves the practitioner introducing a topic related to cancer such as, the impact of diagnosis/treatment on relationships with others, with ones body, with the world. Participants are not prompted to think compassionately in this condition but allowed to write freely about the topic without further structure.

Standard Expressive Writing

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• To have experienced an internal or external change to their body due to any form of cancer and/or its treatment at any point in their lives.
• To be 18 or older.
• The ability to read and write in English.
• To have the ability to provide informed consent.

You may not qualify if:

• Distress levels that make participation safe or inappropriate due to cancer prognosis or a mental health condition. (This is flagged by the score on the IES questionnaire.)
• Inability to realistically commit to a 4-week intervention due to poor physical or mental health or other personal commitments.
• Inability to provide informed consent.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust: lead
• University of Plymouth: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust

Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3HD, United Kingdom

RECRUITING

Related Publications (3)

• Altman JK, Linfield K, Salmon PG, Beacham AO. The body compassion scale: Development and initial validation. J Health Psychol. 2020 Mar;25(4):439-449. doi: 10.1177/1359105317718924. Epub 2017 Jul 12.

  PMID: 28810491 BACKGROUND

• Oliveira S, Trindade IA, Ferreira C. The buffer effect of body compassion on the association between shame and body and eating difficulties. Appetite. 2018 Jun 1;125:118-123. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.01.031. Epub 2018 Feb 7.

  PMID: 29427690 BACKGROUND

• Beadle ES, Cain A, Akhtar S, Lennox J, McGuire L, Troop NA. Development and validation of the Body Compassion Questionnaire. Health Psychol Behav Med. 2021 Nov 21;9(1):951-988. doi: 10.1080/21642850.2021.1993229. eCollection 2021.

  PMID: 34868737 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Neoplasms

Study Officials

• Ariane Scalpello

  Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust, University of Plymouth

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Ariane Scalpello, Doctoral

CONTACT

+44 7538158711; ariane.scalpello@plymouth.ac.uk

RCHT Sponsor RCHT Sponsor

CONTACT

01872 25 5117; rcht.sponsor@nhs.net

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 15, 2026
• First Posted: May 5, 2026
• Study Start: December 22, 2025
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2026
• Study Completion: May 1, 2026
• Last Updated: May 5, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GB (1)