Research on the Effects and Moderating Factors of Expressive Writing on Mental Health

CHEN Gongjin; PENG Li; JIN Zihao; ZHAO Aijun; YAN Xuanyun; LI Min

doi:10.13730/j.issn.2097-2148.2025.06.012

Abstract：Objective To examine the effects of expressive writing focused on repetitive negative thinking(RNT)on the mental health of recruits,and to explore the moderating role of emotion regulation strategies on the effectiveness of the intervention.Methods A total of 193 recruits from a certain military unit were selected using cluster sampling and di-vided into experimental group(n=97)and control group(n=96)based on company size,participants in the experimental group received RNT-focused expressive writing program,whereas the control group practiced regular writing,twice a week for 4 weeks.The scores of the perseverative thinking questionnaire(PTQ),self-rating depression scale(SDS),self-rating anxiety scale(SAS)and satisfaction with life scale(SWLS)for two groups of participants were evaluated be-fore and after the interventions,the emotion regulation questionnaire(ERQ)was used to examine the moderating influ-ence of emotion regulation strategies on the effectiveness of the intervention.Results Before intervention,there were no significant difference in the scores of PTQ,SDS,SAS and SWLS between the two groups;after the intervention,the SAS score of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group,and the SWLS score signifi-cantly increased(all P＜0.05);the PTQ,SDS and SAS scores of the experimental group significantly decreased(all P＜0.01),and the SWLS score significantly increased(P＜0.001);there were no statistically significant differences in the scores of PTQ,SDS,SAS and SWLS in the control group before and after interventions(all P＞0.05).The results of regulatory effect analysis showed that expression suppression moderated the difference in the changes of PTQ scores be-tween the experimental and control groups before and after interventions,the change of PTQ score increased with the in-crease of expression inhibition score in the experimental group(β=-0.450,P＜0.001),but there was no significant relationship between the change of PTQ score and expression inhibition score in the control group(β=-0.058,P=0.577).Conclusion The RNT-focused ex-pressive writing can significantly reduce RNT,depression and anxiety levels,as well as enhance life satisfaction among recruits;expression suppression plays moderating role in the intervention effect of expressive writing on RNT,individuals who are accustomed to using expression suppression strategies have more reduction in RNT.