WriteWell: Effects and mechanisms of different ways of writing about distressing events

(prolonged exposure, writing therapy, Narrative Exposure Therapy) differ in the fact that they require the exposure to take place in the present versus past tense. The efficacy of imaginal exposure in the present versus past tense has never been subjected to a direct experimental comparison however. An additional unanswered question is if the effects of imaginal exposure can be explained by increased coherence of the memories that are the subject of the exposure. This study addresses these questions, as well as the role of a number of potential moderators and mediators, in a non-clinical sample. Imaginal exposure is conducted using writing assignments according to the Pennebaker writing paradigm. Experimental study arms include written imaginal exposure in the present tense and in the past tense, and are compared to a no-intervention control condition (of note, this type of control condition is not offered in the forced-choice 'Control group' field below, therefore we selected 'unknown' there).

(1) Written imaginal exposure results in beneficial effects compared to no-intervention
(2) Beneficial effects are greater for written imaginal exposure in the past tense than for written imaginal exposure in the present tense

Baseline (T1), 3 weeks (1 week after writing intervention, T2), six weeks (4 weeks after writing intervention)

4 30' writing sessions (present tense or past tense) in the course of 2 weeks