Bereaved Young Adults Study

Summary

Bereaved adolescents and emerging adults are at risk for developing psychological disorders and complicated grief. Clinical grief interventions and conventional wisdom reflect an implicit assumption that sharing and expressing one's feelings surrounding a loss (i.e., emotional disclosure) facilitates psychological adjustment. However, studies of emotional disclosure have yielded null results in bereaved samples. Individuals who have encountered stressful life events, including interpersonal loss, often report a desire to "give back" to others in similar situations. Empirical evidence suggests that providing support to others can be equally, if not more, beneficial than receiving support. The opportunity to support others experiencing stressful circumstances may address common feelings of powerlessness and engender a sense of meaning, enhancing positive affect and reducing distress. Interventions that leverage prosocial behaviors are associated with positive effects, including increases in wellbeing in non-bereaved populations. To date, no research has examined the utility of prosocial interventions for bereaved individuals.

The present study tests a novel expressive helping intervention that combines elements of expressive disclosure and prosocial writing. Expressive helping will be compared to traditional expressive disclosure and a neutral writing control condition in a sample of bereaved young adults. Participants (N=156) will be randomized to one of three conditions-expressive disclosure, expressive helping, or a neutral writing control-and complete three weekly 20-minute writing sessions. Measures of psychological distress, well-being, and hypothesized mediators will be administered before, immediately following (within 48 hours of the final writing session), one month, and two months after the writing sessions. It is hypothesized that the participants in the expressive helping condition will evidence greater increases in well-being and decreases in grief-related distress at the one and two-month follow-ups, as compared to the other two groups.

Conditions

• Bereavement

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Expressive Disclosure

Prior to each writing session, participants will receive general instructions for completing the writing (e.g., write continuously for 20 minutes, do not worry about grammar, sentence structure, repetition), and be reminded that their writing will remain confidential. Three writing sessions will be spaced 1-2 weeks apart. A weekly writing prompt will instruct participants to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding their bereavement experience.

BEHAVIORAL

Expressive Helping

Prior to each writing session, participants will receive general instructions for completing the writing (e.g., write continuously for 20 minutes, do not worry about grammar, sentence structure, repetition), and be reminded that their first two writing will remain confidential, and their final essay will be de-identified before being provided to newly bereaved young adults. Three writing sessions will be spaced 1-2 weeks apart. In the first two writing sessions, participants will receive a writing prompt that will instruct them to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding their bereavement experience. For the final writing session, participants will receive a writing prompt instructing them to provide advice and support for a newly bereaved young adult.

BEHAVIORAL

Fact-Writing

Prior to each writing session, participants will receive general instructions for completing the writing (e.g., write continuously for 20 minutes, do not worry about grammar, sentence structure, repetition), and be reminded that their writing will remain confidential. Three writing sessions will be spaced 1-2 weeks apart. A weekly writing prompt will instruct participants to write objectively about different time frames (e.g., routine for getting up in the morning, routine for going to sleep at night).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Los Angeles

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

26 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-01-24

Primary Completion

2022-09-01

Completion

2022-09-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations