Expressive writing as a practice against work stress: A literature review

Abstract

Expressive writing is a well-structured written emotional disclosure intervention for processing stressful experiences. Despite its origins in clinical psychology, studies with occupational samples show positive effects on personal resources and well-being. According to the PRISMA guidelines (Moher et al., 2009), a systematic literature review was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, Business Source Ultimate, and PsycINFO. Thirteen studies were conclusively reviewed. Nine showed significant positive effects on mental health variables (e.g., depressive symptoms), personal resources (e.g., self-efficacy), or organizational variables (e.g., job satisfaction). Based on this, we examined the implementation protocols used, sought to identify critical factors for the effectiveness in an occupational context, and derived a recommendation for evidence-based implementation conditions. Participants benefit from writing four times over a 20-minute period in which they are guided by written instructions to engage with a stressful work-specific experience cognitively and emotionally. However, the effectiveness varies for different groups, especially regarding baseline stress. Expressive writing had a more beneficial effect on individuals with lower resources and higher stress levels. Practical use cases in occupational health and human resource management are discussed. The results are limited in the restricted choice of databases and search terms and the ambiguous definition of the evaluation criteria.