Type of Writing Task and College Students' Meaning Making Following a Romantic Breakup

Romantic breakups are a frequent and developmentally expected life event for college students, and students often seek counseling for issues related to a romantic breakup. Research suggests that college students are likely to experience a romantic breakup (Monroe, Rohde, Seeley, & Lewinsohn, 1999) and that such relationship endings can be distressing experiences for them (Davis, Shaver, & Vernon, 2003; Perilloux & Buss, 2008). Developmentally, college students are working to individuate from their parents and to establish mature interpersonal relationships, including romantic relationships, separate from their families of origin (Arnett, 2000; Chickering & Reisser, 1993). Then it is perhaps not surprising that romantic breakups/concerns are among the top reasons listed for college students to seek university counseling services (Diemer, Wang, & Dunkle, 2009; Erdur-Baker, Aberson, Barrow, & Draper, 2006). Research related to potential interventions for use with students who have experienced a romantic breakup would likely be of immediate use to most counseling center staff. Writing interventions have been successfully used with adults who are facing a number of different life events (Lepore & Smyth, 2002). Much of the recent focus on therapeutic writing has been facilitated by the work of Pennebaker and his colleagues (e.g., Pennebaker, 2003; Smyth & Pennebaker, 2008). The professional literature also contains texts designed to assist clinicians in effectively implementing writing interventions with their clients (e.g., Bolton, Field, & Thompson, 2006)* The relationship between written emotional expression and subsequent health has been supported by meta-analyses. Smyth (1998) evaluated the results of 13 outcomes studies and determined that tasks of written expression were associated with enhanced reported physical health, psychological well-being, physiological functioning, and general functioning. Scholars have argued for the use of therapeutic writing with individuals who have a number of different presenting issues, including eating disorders (Schmidt, Bone, Hems, Lessem, & Treasure, 2002), depression (Smith, Leenerrs, & Gajewski, 2003), cancer (Larsen, Cumming, Hundleby, & Kuiken, 2003), death loss (O'Connor, Allen, & Kaszniak, 2005), and fibromyalgia (Broderick, Junghaenel, & Schwartz, 2005). College students, because of their unique developmental phase, may even be more likely than their older adult counterparts to benefit from therapeutic writing tasks. According to developmental theory, college students are in a time of life filled with change, exploration, and often uncertainty (Arnett, 2000). In addition, they are in the midst of developing competency and the capacity to manage their emotions (Chickering & Reisser, 1993). For individuals in this age group, using the scaffolding and structure that a writing task provides may be particularly beneficial. Expressive writing has been used as a beneficial intervention with college students facing issues such as the transition to college (Pennebaker, Colder, & Sharp, 1990), migration (Nandagopal, 2008), negative body image (Earnhardt, Martz, Ballard, & Curtin, 2002), and personal trauma (Burton & King, 2008). Researchers also suggest that confronting conflicting or complex emotions in writing may be helpful for college students in romantic relationships and for those who have experienced relationship breakups (Slatcher & Pennebaker, 2006). Researchers suggest that with adults in general, directed writing may more effectively assist individuals in establishing a holistic account of a life event than does nondirected writing. When individuals are prompted to write freely about an event, they seem to reflect more on the pain involved than on any other aspect of the experience. Research findings support the idea that people tend to rely on a "peak-end" rule, which causes them to give more weight to peak levels of pain rather than equally weighting all of the surrounding emotions (Stone, Broderick, Kaell, DelesPaul, & Porter, 2000). …