COVID-19 Silver Linings Writing Study

Project Description: Writing has been used for decades as a method to process stressful or traumatic events, leading to interventions such as written exposure therapy and expressive writing. Other research has examined cognitive strategies to cope with stressful or traumatic events. One such strategy is cognitive reappraisal (CR) which typically involves generating more neutral/positive appraisals of negative events. A newer strategy is imagery rescripting (ImR), which involves revisiting unpleasant events and changing their ending, often by adding fictional information into the narrative. In the current study, we explored the impact of brief CR- and ImR-like interventions, delivered through writing, on affect and stress during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study was conducted in collaboration with the Phelps Lab at Harvard University.