Journal of Psychiatry

Pilot randomized controlled trial of a home-based writing intervention for individuals with a seizure disorder

20^th Euro Congress on Psychiatrists and Psychologists

August 07-08, 2017 | Rome, Italy

Gregg H Rawlings, Ian Brown and Markus Reuber

University of Sheffield, UK

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Psychiatry

Abstract:

Writing therapies have been found to be associated with a range of qualitative and quantitative benefits in clinical and non-clinical samples. We investigated the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a home-based writing intervention for individuals with epilepsy or psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. Individuals recruited from outpatient neurology clinics or membership-led organizations were either randomized to a control (n=25) or therapeutic writing condition (n=43). Participants in the control group were asked to write about emotionally devoid topics (their daily events), whereas those allocated to the therapeutic condition were instructed to write about: their very deepest thoughts and feelings about their condition; a letter to their condition, a letter to their younger self and about a personal value. Participants were asked to write for at least 20 minutes per question, at home and in private. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to investigate changes in measures of health-related quality of life (NEWQoL-6D), depression (NDDI-E), anxiety (GAD-7) and illness perception (B-IPQ) from baseline to one and threemonths follow-ups. Qualitative and quantitative data taken from a writing task questionnaire was analyzed between the two writing conditions. Significant improvement in health-related quality of life one-month following the writing intervention-effect size=0.65. Based on rates of attrition, a writing intervention in individuals with seizures was found to be acceptable. Whilst many benefits of writing were reported, future research should aim to investigate the use of writing as a supplement to other psychological therapies in those with a seizure disorder.

Biography :

Email: ghrawlngs1@sheffield.ac.uk