Does communication matter? Testing the effects of expressive writing on stress in a college student sample.

This research examines the expressive writing intervention, and extends the current body of knowledge concerning how it functions to reduce college students' stress levels. Specifically, the present project examined whether expressive writing is equally as effective in reducing stress when conducted as an intrapersonal activity (i.e., journaling) or whether the presence of an audience produces greater overall benefits. The effect of expressive writing on self-esteem was also examined. To that end, two controlled experiments testing the effects of private versus disclosive expressive writing were conducted. Results of a pilot study examining the specific effects of expressive writing on break-up related stress only, and a main study examining effects of expressive writing on global perceived stress, indicate that different types of writing interventions may yield different effects. Participants dealing with breakup related distress appear to benefit more from interpersonal writing than from private journaling and as a whole, participants in both studies appeared to benefit from the writing activity. Contrary to prior research, automated analyses using linguistic analysis software indicated that the linguistic content of the writing did not predict decreased stress or increased self-esteem over time. Limitations of the studies and implications for future research are discussed.