Mending Broken Hearts: Effects of Expressive Writing on Mood, Cognitive Processing, Social Adjustment and Health Following a Relationship Breakup

Opening up in the classroom: Effects of expressive writing on graduate school entrance exam performance.

“…Previous studies have shown that expressive writing delivers numerous benefits, including reductions in distress (Barry & Singer, 2001), decreases in fatigue, tension, and upper respiratory symptoms (Lepore & Greenberg, 2002), and improvements in functional status (Hamilton-West & Quine, 2007). It is believed that experimental disclosure interventions help people free their minds of unwanted thoughts, make sense of upsetting events, better regulate their emotions, habituate to negative emotions, and improve their connections to their social world.…”

Emotional and Cognitive Coping in Relationship Dissolution

“…They found that those who took part in the expressive writing task were significantly more likely to be dating their romantic partner three months later in comparison to a control group. Lepore and Greenberg (2002) found that physiological symptoms decreased for the experimental group asked to write about a relationship breakup. In addition, this study found a trend that expressive writing participants were more likely to reunite with their ex-partner than those who were in the control condition.…”

“…Chung et al (2003) found that after relationship breakups, participants displayed as much avoidance as a clinical comparison sample. Additionally, Lepore and Greenberg (2002) found that avoidance strategies after breakups were related to short-term increase in upper respiratory symptoms in a control group. Self-complexity, or a person's perception of his or her roles and the way those roles interplay has also been studied in relation to avoidance.…”

“…In another model, cognitive-processing theory hypothesizes the benefits of reframing a negative event to find insight, a course which avoidance techniques actively disrupt (Frattaroli, 2006). If such techniques are utilized, discrepancy between cognitive schemas and the thoughts surrounding the negative affect can continue the cycle of avoidance, which studies have shown ultimately may lead to depression, intrusive thoughts, and even physical health deficits (Lepore & Greenberg, 2002). Overall, cognitive avoidance is characterized as maladaptive and several third wave therapies have begun targeting it in order to reduce these symptoms (Sexton & Dugas).…”

“…Romero (2008) found that expressive writing participants asked to write about an interpersonal offense and empathize with the offender actually reported more forgiveness and lower levels of avoidance. Lepore and Greenberg (2002) noted a non-significant, but promising pattern of the effectiveness of expressive writing on those experiencing avoidance or intrusive thoughts. Repetitive thoughts and avoidant coping being two constructs of interest in this project, this prior research lays ground work for positive outcomes using the expressive writing paradigm with relationship dissolution.…”