NCT05284578

The Effects of Expressive Writing and Compassionate Letter Writing on Emotional Distress Intolerance

The Effects of Expressive Writing and Compassionate Letter Writing on Emotional Distress Intolerance: A Brief Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 424 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Waterloo · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: —
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Perceived emotional distress intolerance is a transdiagnostic marker of psychopathology associated with psychological and interpersonal dysfunction, and the development of interventions for perceived emotional distress intolerance is of prime importance. One potential intervention is a behavioural experiment, i.e. a cognitive behaviour therapy technique where clients undergo an exercise designed to test a maladaptive belief, e.g., that negative emotions are unbearable, and adjust their belief to accommodate any disconfirmatory information that arises through the exercise. This study examines the effects of a one-session self-compassion writing behavioural experiment compared to a one-session expressive writing behavioural experiment on low perceived distress tolerance. Participants were recruited from the University of Waterloo and Prolific, and were randomly assigned to the self-compassion condition, expressive writing condition, or a control condition.

Detailed description

The study consisted of two online surveys. During the first survey, participants answered a set of questionnaires. Then, they were prompted to think of an upsetting situation and the associated unpleasant emotions, and they were then randomly assigned to a brief self-compassionate writing, expressive writing, or neutral writing task. They then answered a series of questionnaires immediately after completing the writing task. During the second survey, one week later, participants answered a brief set of questionnaires.

Conditions

• Distress Intolerance

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Self-compassionate writing intervention	Participants assigned to this intervention were asked to engage in one brief online self-compassionate writing session, where they were asked to write about and experience their feelings from the perspective of an inner compassionate observer.
OTHER	Expressive writing intervention	Participants assigned to this intervention were asked to engage in one brief online expressive writing session, where they were asked to explore their deepest thoughts and emotions surrounding an upsetting situation through writing.
OTHER	Control writing task	Participants assigned to this condition were asked to engage in a neutral time management writing task.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-07-04
• Primary completion: 2022-07-21
• Completion: 2022-07-21
• First posted: 2022-03-17
• Last updated: 2025-06-04

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada