Clinical trial NCT06130020: Comparing Targets of Expressive Writing
Official title: Comparing Targets of Expressive Writing
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Healthy
Anxiety
Depression
Keywords: expressive writing
journaling
mental health
Lead sponsor: Trustees of Princeton University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2023-11-13
Enrollment: 159
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 25
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

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).


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.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Anxiety
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), mid-point (day 7) final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
measure: Depression
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), mid-point (day 7), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
measure: Sleep Quality
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
measure: Depression, Anxiety, and Stress
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
measure: Alexithymia (TAS)
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
measure: Alexithymia (PAQ)
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
measure: Emotion Regulation
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
measure: Interpersonal Regulation
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
measure: Social Desirability
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
measure: Social Connectedness
timeFrame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
measure: Daily Sleep
timeFrame: Daily from day 1 to day 14
measure: Sleepiness
timeFrame: Daily from day 1 to day 14
Locations:
city: Princeton
country: United States
facility: Peretsman Scully Hall
state: New Jersey
Study officials:
affiliation: Princeton University
name: Erik Nook, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: 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.