Comparing Targets of Expressive Writing

February 20, 2026 updated by: Trustees of Princeton University
Expressive writing involves writing about one's deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event. The current literature on the efficacy of expressive writing is mixed and warrants further investigation into how, when, and for whom expressive writing is an effective intervention. The goal of this study is to compare the efficacy of expressive writing interventions in young adults when people imagine that they're writing to themselves vs. a loved one. Participants will carry out an expressive writing exercise for 14 consecutive days. Participants are randomized into 3 groups: Self, Other, and Control. The Self group is instructed to write as if they were talking to themselves. The Other group is instructed to direct their writing to someone they feel close to. The Control group is asked to write down a factual description of their routine that day, and direct this writing to themselves. We will recruit participants until we have usable data from 53 participants per group (i.e., 159 in total).

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
160

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New Jersey
      • Princeton, New Jersey, United States, 08540
        • Peretsman Scully Hall

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • US-based
  • Fluent English
  • Combined GAD-7 and PHQ-8 score of ≥ 5

Exclusion Criteria:

  • "Completion" of a writing session requires participants to spend at least 15 minutes on the writing page. We will monitor completion of the daily writing exercise, and will contact participants who miss or spend less than 15 minutes on the exercise. Participants who fail to complete 3 consecutive daily writing sessions will be deemed non-compliant, removed from the study, and paid a prorated amount for the tasks they have completed in the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Self
The Self group is instructed to carry out the expressive writing exercise as if they were writing to themselves.
Behavioral: Expressive Writing: Self
This intervention consists of a daily expressive writing exercise carried out for 14 consecutive days, for 15 minutes each day. Expressive writing involves asking participants to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event. Participants in this condition will write as if they are writing to themselves.
Experimental: Other
The Other group is instructed to carry out the expressive writing exercise as if they were writing to someone they feel close to.
Behavioral: Expressive Writing: Other
This intervention consists of a daily expressive writing exercise carried out for 14 consecutive days, for 15 minutes each day. Expressive writing involves asking participants to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event. Participants in this condition will write as if they are writing/talking to someone they're close to.
Placebo Comparator: Control
The Control group is asked to write down a factual description of their routine that day, as if they were writing to themselves.
Behavioral: Factual Writing
This intervention consists of a daily factual writing exercise carried out for 14 consecutive days, for 15 minutes each day. Participants are asked to give a factual description of their day. This is a standard control for Expressive writing studies. Participants in this condition will be asked to direct their writing to themselves.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Anxiety
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), mid-point (day 7) final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Scores range from 0-21, with higher scores indicating more severe anxiety.
Initial visit (day 1), mid-point (day 7) final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Depression
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), mid-point (day 7), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8). Scores range from 0-24, with higher scores indicating more severe depression.
Initial visit (day 1), mid-point (day 7), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sleep Quality
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Total scores range from 0-21, with higher scores indicating poorer sleep quality.
Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Depression, Anxiety, and Stress
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Depression, Anxiety, and Stress-21 (DASS-21). Scores for each of the three subscales range from 0-42, with higher scores indicating greater severity.
Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Alexithymia (TAS)
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20). Scores range from 20-100, with higher scores indicating greater alexithymia.
Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Alexithymia (PAQ)
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ). Total scores range from 24-168, with higher scores indicating greater alexithymia.
Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Emotion Regulation
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Scores for the reappraisal and suppression subscales range from 6-42 and 4-28 respectively. Higher scores indicate greater use of the strategy.
Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Interpersonal Regulation
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Interpersonal Regulation Questionnaire (IRQ). Total scores range from 16-112, with higher scores indicating greater tendency to use/efficacy of interpersonal emotion regulation.
Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Social Desirability
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-SDS). Scores range from 0-33, with higher scores indicating greater social desirability.
Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Social Connectedness
Time Frame: Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Social Connectedness Scale (SCS). Scores range from 8-48, with higher scores indicating greater connectedness to others.
Initial visit (day 1), final visit (day 15), 1-month follow-up (1 month after day 14)
Daily Sleep
Time Frame: Daily from day 1 to day 14
Consensus Sleep Diary (CSD). Items are used to derive estimates of sleep indices, such as time in bed and total sleep time.
Daily from day 1 to day 14
Sleepiness
Time Frame: Daily from day 1 to day 14
Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS). Scores on this single-item scale range from 1-10, with higher scores indicating greater sleepiness.
Daily from day 1 to day 14

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Trustees of Princeton University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Erik Nook, PhD, Princeton University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 10, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 30, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 6, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 6, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 13, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 23, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 20, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 15734

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Upon study completion, a subset of the de-identified data will be transferred to OSF, which will provide public access to this data. Writing content will not be transferred to OSF, though we will make thoroughly de-identified data available to researchers who have completed appropriate ethics training, agree to confidentiality restrictions, and whose research goals are in line with the purpose of this study.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Beginning after publication of results with no end date.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

A subset of the de-identified data will be publicly available on the OSF.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • SAP
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings