Effects of expressive writing on Intimate Partner Violence and relationship quality
Abstract
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a common occurrence among college students, and also a serious problem given the negative consequences for the victim. The most widely used interventions for perpetrators do not address perpetrators' past traumatic life events, a key issue in the etiology of IPV. Expressive writing (EW) is a therapeutic writing process used to help individuals overcome traumatic experiences. EW has been used effectively with numerous populations but has never been studied with IPV perpetrators. In this study, participants (n = 33) were assigned to one of two conditions wherein they wrote about a traumatic experience (EW) or a control topic (CW) over a three-day period and then completed monthly logs for three months. Results indicate that expressive-writing participants were more likely to remain in their relationship than control participants; expressive writing participants also were more satisfied as long as they had not previously disclosed the traumatic incident (i.e., moderation by high novelty of traumatic disclosure). Results are discussed in terms of how these findings expand knowledge of the mechanisms by which expressive writing affects romantic relationships and implications are discussed for future research.
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Arriaga, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Social psychology|Clinical psychology|Rhetoric
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