Clinical trial · Interventional
The Therapeutic Effect of Expressive Writing.
The Therapeutic Effect of Expressive Writing in People Living With and Beyond Cancer.
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The goal of this clinical trial is to understand the impact of compassionate expressive writing in people living with and beyond cancer. The main question it aims to answer is: Does compassionate expressive writing have any impact on well-being outcomes in people living with and beyond cancer, such as body compassion, self-compassion, quality of life and psychological well-being outcomes ? Researchers will compare compassionate expressive writing with a standard expressive writing task (with no compassionate prompt) to see if there is a difference in self-reported body compassion, self-compassion, quality of life and psychological well-being outcomes between the two conditions. Participants will : Complete a series of pre-intervention questionnaires. Be assigned to one of the two writing conditions. Attend four expressive writing sessions and write freely for approximately 20 minutes in response to a topic related to their cancer experience. Complete a series of post-intervention questionnaires. Repeat the questionnaires at 1-month follow-up.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compassionate Expressive Writing | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Standard Expressive Writing | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Standard Expressive Writing
- description
- A standard expressive writing condition that will follow the same topic and process as the experimental writing condition but will not include a compassionate writing prompt.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Standard Expressive Writing
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Compassionate Expressive Writing
- description
- An expressive writing condition that will include a compassionate prompt at the start that will encourage participants to be compassionate towards themselves and their experiences when writing.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Compassionate Expressive Writing
Primary outcomes (3)
- measure
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * To have experienced an internal or external change to their body due to any form of cancer and/or its treatment at any point in their lives. * To be 18 or older. * The ability to read and write in English. * To have the ability to provide informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Distress levels that make participation safe or inappropriate due to cancer prognosis or a mental health condition. (This is flagged by the score on the IES questionnaire.) * Inability to realistically commit to a 4-week intervention due to poor physical or mental health or other personal commitments. * Inability to provide informed consent.
References
Publications (3)
- BACKGROUNDAltman JK, Linfield K, Salmon PG, Beacham AO. The body compassion scale: Development and initial validation. J Health Psychol. 2020 Mar;25(4):439-449. doi: 10.1177/1359105317718924. Epub 2017 Jul 12. PMID 28810491
- BACKGROUNDOliveira S, Trindade IA, Ferreira C. The buffer effect of body compassion on the association between shame and body and eating difficulties. Appetite. 2018 Jun 1;125:118-123. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.01.031. Epub 2018 Feb 7. PMID 29427690
- BACKGROUNDBeadle ES, Cain A, Akhtar S, Lennox J, McGuire L, Troop NA. Development and validation of the Body Compassion Questionnaire. Health Psychol Behav Med. 2021 Nov 21;9(1):951-988. doi: 10.1080/21642850.2021.1993229. eCollection 2021. PMID 34868737