Clinical trial NCT00766558: The Effects of Written Emotional Disclosure on Eating Disorder Pathology in a Clinical Eating Disordered Population
Official title: Study of the Efficacy of Written Emotional Disclosure on Eating Disorder Pathology
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa
Eating Disorder
Keywords: anorexia
bulimia
eating disorder not otherwise specified
Lead sponsor: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2008-10-06
Enrollment: 29
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 14
Maximum age (years): 50
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Patients in the Penn State Hershey Adolescentand Adult Eating Disorders Partial Hospitalization Program

Brief summary: A technique that has been found to be effective at relieving the physical and psychological symptoms associated with inhibiting emotions and emotional thoughts is written emotional disclosure. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of written emotional disclosure on the remediation of eating disorder behaviour, cognitions, and management of emotions.

Detailed description: New Partial program participants complete a packet of questionnaires during their initial appointment, which will be used as baseline levels of eating disorder symptoms and psychological health. Participants will complete the writing as part of their eating disorder therapy. The writing will be completed individually. The writing will consist of continuous writing for fifteen minutes on three consecutive days. The experimental group will write about traumatic or stressful experiences, while the control group will objectively describe events. A post-writing packet of questionnaires will be completed one week after completing the writing. A follow-up evaluation will occur four-weeks after completion of the post-writing packet and will include completing a packet of questionnaires and debriefing.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Willing to sign consent form

Exclusion Criteria:

* Unwilling to sign consent form

Primary outcomes:
measure: Testing and behavioral changes
timeFrame: 6-weeks
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hershey
country: United States
facility: Penn State College of Medicine
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: Penn State College of Medicine
name: Richard L Levine, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
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citation: Pennebaker, J. W. and Francis, M. E. (1996). Cognitive, emotional, and language processes in disclosure. Cognition and Emotion, 10, 601-626.
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citation: Petrie KJ, Fontanilla I, Thomas MG, Booth RJ, Pennebaker JW. Effect of written emotional expression on immune function in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection: a randomized trial. Psychosom Med. 2004 Mar-Apr;66(2):272-5. doi: 10.1097/01.psy.0000116782.49850.d3.
citation: Quinton, S. and Wagner, H. L. (2005). Emotional expression, alexithymia, and characteristics associated with eating psychopathology in non-clinical women. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1163-1173.