Expressive writing in context: the effects of a confessional setting and delivery of instructions on participant experience and language in writing.

OBJECTIVES Manipulations of the setting and instructions were tested for effects on language use and reported health following expressive writing (EW). METHODS Participants (N=76) wrote in one of three conditions that differed by setting and the delivery of writing instructions. RESULTS The results showed that altering the context for EW influences participants' language use and their perceptions of the experience. There was no effect of conditions on self-reported health. CONCLUSIONS Future research should attend to the ways in which manipulations of EW context affect proposed mediators such as language, as well as outcomes of EW.