Candidate: Jennifer E. Lewis

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Psychology

Title: Effects of Writing Therapy across PTSD and Chronic Stress

Committee:
Dr. C. Richard Spates, Chair
Dr. Galen Alessi
Dr. Amy Naugle
Dr. Helle Augustesen

Date:May 8, 2003 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
3719 Wood Hall

Abstract:
Research supports the effectiveness of writing therapy in reducing physical health problems and increasing positive feelings (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986). More recently, research indicates that writing about traumatic experiences is as effective as EMDR in reducing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Largo-Marsh & Spates, 1997). The current study assessed the treatment efficacy of writing therapy for individuals with varying degrees of stress related symptoms. Specifically this study examined writing treatment for PTSD and work related chronic stress or "burnout".
The study utilized a pretest posttest comparison group design. Repeated measurements on primary dependent variables were collected as pretest and posttest as well as at one and two month follow-ups.
Assessment instruments included the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Clinician Administered PTSD scale for DSM-IV (CAPS-DX), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-State), Subjective Units of Distress rating (SUDs), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Coping Resources Inventory (CRI), and the Health Care Visits Questionnaire.
Subjects were assigned to participant groups based upon their scores on the CAPS-DX and MBI. Treatment consisted of four weekly sessions, each 30 minutes in duration. The structured writing treatment was targeted at the traumatic event or stressful work situation the participant identified as most presently distressing. A total of 16 participants completed the study through two-month follow up with eight participants in each group.
Results of this study indicated that participants in the Burnout condition showed significant decreases in symptom reports of depression as measured by the BDI-II. These gains were maintained through two-month follow-up. Participants in the PTSD group showed no significant improvement on any dependent measures. However, moderate to large effects sizes were found for those analyses suggesting that an increased sample size may have resulted in the detection of significant improvements in symptom reports across all dependent measures for both conditions.
The main limitation of this study was the small sample size. The study suffered from both difficulties recruiting participants as well as attrition. Recommendations for future research in this area include monetary incentive for participation. This research is best viewed as a pilot study, the results of which warrant further investigation.

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