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Level of processing modulates benefits of writing about stressful events : comparing generic and specific recall

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Vrielynck, Nathalie [UCL] Philippot, Pierre [UCL] Rimé, Bernard [UCL]

Writing about emotional experiences has been shown to improve physical and psychological health (Frattaroli, 2006). The current study aimed to assess whether manipulating the level of information processing during disclosure impacted on psychological variables in individuals with high posttraumatic stress. Fifty-four participants were assigned to one of three conditions: (1) writing about the specific details of a stressful experience; (2) writing about generic information associated with a stressful event such as intrusive thoughts; or (3) writing about a neutral topic. They wrote on the given topic for three consecutive days for 20 minutes each day. Results showed that specifying a stressful event resulted in less distress during subsequent writing sessions, aided participants in making sense of the event, and helped them to feel less anger when thinking about the event.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article) – Article de recherche
Access type Accès restreint
Publication date 2010
Language Anglais
Journal information "Cognition and Emotion" - Vol. 24, no. 7, p. 1117-1132 (2010)
Peer reviewed yes
Publisher Psychology Press (Hove)
issn 0269-9931
e-issn 1464-0600
Publication status Publié
Affiliation UCL - SSH/IPSY - Psychological Sciences Research Institute
Keywords Written disclosure ; Emotion regulation ; Specificity ; Stressful event ; Level of processing
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Bibliographic reference Vrielynck, Nathalie ; Philippot, Pierre ; Rimé, Bernard. Level of processing modulates benefits of writing about stressful events : comparing generic and specific recall. In: Cognition and Emotion, Vol. 24, no. 7, p. 1117-1132 (2010)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/35067