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The benefits of expressive writing after the Madrid terrorist attack: Implications for emotional activation and positive affect
Author(s) -
Fernández Itziar,
Páez Darío
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
british journal of health psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 2044-8287
pISSN - 1359-107X
DOI - 10.1348/135910707x251234
Subject(s) - feeling , psychology , affect (linguistics) , narrative , recall , social psychology , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , communication , linguistics , philosophy
This study examined the effects of expressive narrative writing in 607 participants. Compared with a control group, the participants randomly assigned to write about their feelings and thoughts after the Madrid train attack on M11 report less negative emotions related to the recall of the collective trauma at a 2‐month follow‐up after the attacks. However, no effects were found on positive affect, probably because the study had only one writing session of brief duration. Stronger feelings of joy, use of positive words, and low use of negative words in the narratives predicted low emotional activation at follow‐up.