Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University, 1033, Des Pins West, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada.
Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University, 1033, Des Pins West, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada; Jewish General Hospital, Lady Davis Institute, 4333 Côte St-Catherine Road, Montreal, QC H3T 1E4, Canada.
J Adolesc. 2018 Dec;69:113-117. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.09.010. Epub 2018 Oct 2.
Expressive writing interventions consist of brief writing sessions on thoughts and emotions and are known to yield positive benefits on adolescents' mental health. However, the psychological mechanisms explaining these effects are not clear.
This review explored the psychological processes underlying school-based expressive writing interventions with adolescents. A thematic synthesis of qualitative research consisted of identifying, appraising and summarizing the qualitative evidence of eligible studies.
Only six of the 510 identified studies met the inclusion criteria of this review. Results provide some validation for cognitive-processing, emotion-regulation, and disinhibition as psychological mechanisms underlying school-based expressive writing with adolescents.
However, these conclusions are still preliminary because of the paucity of the qualitative evidence found, both in quantity and quality. We recommend that more rigorous and in-depth qualitative research be undertaken to: 1) explore adolescents' subjective experience about the expressive writing intervention, using in-depth individual interviews; 2) thoroughly assess the content of students' texts written during the intervention; and 3) document the process of expressive writing interventions through observational methods. The results of such investigations would support the development and implementation of school-based expressive writing-type of interventions adapted to adolescents.
表达性写作干预包括对思想和情感的简短写作，已知对青少年的心理健康有积极的益处。然而，解释这些效果的心理机制尚不清楚。
本综述探讨了基于学校的表达性写作干预对青少年的心理过程。对定性研究的主题综合包括识别、评估和总结合格研究的定性证据。
在 510 项已确定的研究中，只有 6 项符合本综述的纳入标准。结果为认知加工、情绪调节和去抑制作为基于学校的青少年表达性写作的心理机制提供了一些验证。
然而，由于发现的定性证据数量和质量都很少，这些结论仍然是初步的。我们建议进行更严格和深入的定性研究，以：1）使用深入的个体访谈，探索青少年对表达性写作干预的主观体验；2）彻底评估学生在干预期间所写文本的内容；3）通过观察方法记录表达性写作干预的过程。这些研究的结果将支持为青少年量身定制的基于学校的表达性写作干预的开发和实施。
