Understanding College Students’ Romantic Breakup Experiences: An Intervention Study

Andrew Brown, Purdue University

Abstract

Romantic breakups are a relatively common life event for college students, with as many as 98% of young adults reporting having experienced a breakup at any point in their past (MirsuPaun & Oliver, 2017). Although the events are common, breakups have been associated with several adverse outcomes, including loneliness and social isolation (Field et al., 2009; Larson & Sbarra, 2015), onset of major depressive disorder (Monroe et al., 1999), increased anxious and depressive symptoms (Samios et al., 2014), and suicidal ideation (Mirsu-Paun & Oliver, 2017). A common source of support for students experiencing adverse outcomes from a breakup has historically been university counseling centers, which have reported continued increases in the demand for counseling services (Xiao et al., 2017). Indeed, a clear need exists for interventions to support students experiencing a breakup, especially interventions that are low-resource and easy to implement in a variety of ways.One such low-resource intervention is the use of expressive writing interventions, such as the kind frequently used by Pennebaker (2017). An extensive body of literature exists supporting the use of expressive writing interventions as an effective means to reduce an array of possible adverse outcomes, including physical health problems and anxious and depressive symptoms (see Collison, 2016; or Reinhold et al., 2018 for a review). However, researchers have also found inconsistent support for the use of expressive writing interventions, including meta-analytic findings showing no long-term benefits from engaging in expressive writing (Collison, 2016; Reinhold et al., 2018).One area of the expressive writing literature that may explain the inconsistent findings is the use of targeted writing prompts, or writing instructions that target specific components of an individual’s experience, or encourage them to interpret a stressful event in a new way (Lichtenthal & Cruess, 2010; Ullrich & Lutgendorf, 2003). An example of this is Facchin et al. (2014), who found a benefit finding writing prompt led to a greater decrease in distress than a more “standard” expressive writing prompt in a study of adolescents’ adjustment to a new school.In the present study, I examined the extent to which expressive writing conditions impacted college students’ reports of breakup distress, suicidal ideation, intrusive thoughts, and perceived gains compared to a control writing condition. Additionally, I examined the extent to which targeted expressive writing conditions reduced breakup distress differentially compared to a standard emotional expression writing condition.Using an experimental design, I randomly assigned 73 college students to one of 4 expressive writing conditions. Participants in each condition completed pretest measures and completed 15-minute expressive writing tasks on 3 consecutive days, followed by completing posttest measures. I analyzed the data using a series of ANCOVAs, and I conducted four pairedsamples t-tests to assess any differences that existed regardless of expressive writing condition.No significant differences emerged among the four expressive writing conditions, and the two targeted expressive writing conditions were not statistically different from the standard expressive writing condition. Paired-samples t-tests revealed significant decreases in breakup distress and intrusive thoughts, as well as a significant increase in perceived gains.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Servaty-Seib, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Psychology|Higher education|Counseling Psychology|Mental health|Clinical psychology|Cognitive psychology|Education|Social psychology

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