Trial results for "Expressing Personal Recollections in English or Spanish to Alleviate Traumatic Emotions (Exprésate)" investigating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2025-08-24, with 40 participants enrolled.
Background
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Effective interventions are crucial for individuals living with PTSD to manage symptoms and improve their quality of life. Expressive writing, a therapeutic technique involving writing about emotional events, has been explored as a potential intervention for various psychological conditions. This study aimed to test if expressive writing about traumatic events could lead to positive changes in women living with PTSD, specifically examining the impact of such interventions when conducted in either English or Spanish.
Trial design
This completed study, designated as Phase NA, enrolled 40 participants to investigate Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The trial's purpose was to test if expressive writing about traumatic events has positive changes in women living with post-traumatic stress. The study design included several intervention and control groups based on language and writing task: an Augmented Trauma-writing Intervention in Spanish, an Augmented Trauma-writing Intervention in English, a Daily-event-writing Control in English, and a Daily-event-writing Control in Spanish.
Key results
The trial reported several key measurements related to changes in PTSD symptoms, verbal learning, and brain activity:
- Change in PTSD Symptoms as Assessed by the Impact of Event Scale (score on a scale):
- For the Augmented Trauma-writing Intervention in Spanish, the mean change was -.383 (Standard Deviation 12.19).
- For the Augmented Trauma-writing Intervention in English, the mean change was 6.43 (Standard Deviation 4.27).
- For the Daily-event-writing Control in English, the mean change was -3.18 (Standard Deviation 16.22).
- For the Daily-event-writing Control in Spanish, the mean change was -2.11 (Standard Deviation 9.59).
- Changes in Verbal Learning as Assessed by Hopkins Verbal Learning Task (Total words recalled following delay):
- For the Augmented Trauma-writing Intervention in Spanish, the mean was 10.43 (Standard Deviation 1.272).
- For the Augmented Trauma-writing Intervention in English, the mean was 11.67 (Standard Deviation .577).
- For the Daily-event-writing Control in English, the mean was 12 (Standard Deviation .00).
- For the Daily-event-writing Control in Spanish, the mean was 9.80 (Standard Deviation 1.92).
- Change in Functional Activity of the Default Mode Network (DMN) (Beta-weight reflecting change in BOLD):
- For the Augmented Trauma-writing Intervention in Spanish, the mean was .702 (Standard Deviation .858).
- For the Augmented Trauma-writing Intervention in English, the mean was -.716 (Standard Deviation .906).
- For the Daily-event-writing Control in English, the mean was -.225 (Standard Deviation .543).
- For the Daily-event-writing Control in Spanish, the mean was -.118 (Standard Deviation .762).
Key analyses included:
- An ANOVA reported a p-value of 0.05, with variance explained by the IV at 0.072 (95.0% CI: 0.0 to 0.234).
- Another ANOVA reported a p-value of 0.05, with a Mean Difference (Final Values) of 0.358 (95.0% CI: 0.0 to 0.554). This comparison was specific to the contrast of visualizing traumatic versus stressful events.
- A third ANOVA reported a p-value of 0.05, with a Mean Difference (Final Values) of 0.51 (95.0% CI: 0.0 to 0.676).
What this means
The results from this study provide insights into the effects of expressive writing interventions on PTSD symptoms, verbal learning, and DMN activity in women. The varied mean changes in PTSD symptoms across the different language and intervention/control groups suggest a complex response to the writing tasks. For instance, the Augmented Trauma-writing Intervention in English showed a positive mean change of 6.43 on the Impact of Event Scale, while the Spanish counterpart showed a negative mean change of -.383. Similarly, verbal learning and DMN activity also showed different mean values across the groups. The ANOVA results, all reporting a p-value of 0.05, indicate that certain factors or comparisons within the study reached statistical significance, with specific values for variance explained and mean differences provided. These findings contribute to understanding the potential role of expressive writing in PTSD management, highlighting the importance of language and intervention type.
Source
The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT05090839, titled "Expressing Personal Recollections in English or Spanish to Alleviate Traumatic Emotions (Exprésate)", were posted on 2025-08-24 on clinicaltrials.gov.