Emotional processing in an expressive writing task on trauma

Background: The current study examined expressive writing by investigating two aspects of emotional processing: depth of experiencing and order of emotional processing. Materials and methods: A sample of 110 undergraduates, who suffered traumas, were instructed to write based on differing theories of emotional processing. Participant narratives were coded for depth of emotional processing and the presence of key emotions. To assess outcome, anxiety was measured at baseline and two weeks following writing. Results: Depth of emotional processing differed as a function of condition and writing session. Moreover, a significant negative relationship was found between changes in the depth of emotional processing and anxiety symptoms (r = - .209, p < .05), such that an increase in experiencing corresponded to a decrease in overall anxiety. Conclusion: The results suggest that writing instructions might differentially promote emotional processing over time and that promoting deepened emotional processing might facilitate reductions in anxiety.