Does narrative writing instruction enhance the benefits of expressive writing?

dc.contributor.authorDanoff-Burg, Sharon
dc.contributor.authorMosher, Catherine E.
dc.contributor.authorSeawell, Asani H.
dc.contributor.authorAgee, John D.
dc.date.accessioned2022-10-10T18:08:10Z
dc.date.available2022-10-10T18:08:10Z
dc.date.issued2010-05-01
dc.description.abstractWe examined whether instructing participants to write in a narrative fashion about stressful life events would produce superior physical and psychological health benefits relative to standard expressive writing instructions that do not specify the essay's structure. Undergraduates (N=101) were randomly assigned to engage in two, 20-minute narrative writing, standard expressive writing, or control writing tasks. Follow-up data were obtained one month later. The essays of the narrative writing group evidenced higher levels of narrative structure than did those of the expressive writing group. Greater narrative structure was associated with mental health gains, and self-rated emotionality of the essays was associated with lesser perceived stress at follow-up. In addition, the narrative and expressive writing groups reported lower levels of perceived stress and depressive symptoms relative to controls but did not differ from each other with regard to these outcomes. Health care utilization at follow-up did not vary by group assignment. Findings suggest that both emotional expression and narrative structure may be key factors underlying expressive writing's mental health benefits. Results also suggest that, among college students, instruction in narrative formation does not increase the positive effects of expressive writing relative to standard expressive writing instructions.en_US
dc.identifier.citationDanoff-Burg, S., Mosher, C. E., Seawell, A. H., & Agee, J. D. (2010). Does narrative writing instruction enhance the benefits of expressive writing? Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 23(3), 341–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615800903191137en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1805/30305
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherElsevieren_US
dc.relation.isversionof10.1080/10615800903191137en_US
dc.subjectnarrative writing instructionen_US
dc.subjectexpressive writingen_US
dc.subjectbenefits of expressive writingen_US
dc.subjectemotional disclosureen_US
dc.subjectstressen_US
dc.titleDoes narrative writing instruction enhance the benefits of expressive writing?en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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