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Cited by 17Mental Health via WritingMusculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMindfulness and Compassion Interventions

Effectiveness of a Positive Writing Intervention for Chronic Pain: A Randomized Trial

Ziemer, Kathryn Schaefer, Fuhrmann, Amy, Hoffman, Mary Ann·2015·MYOPAIN
DOI 10.1080/24708593.2017.1307893
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Abstract

Objectives: There is a need to develop efficient, cost-effective psychological interventions for chronic pain. Expressive writing has been found to produce beneficial psychological and physical outcomes for those with chronic medical conditions. Positive expressive writing may also be beneficial to those with musculoskeletal pain, but this type of writing has not been studied before with this population. The current study was a pilot to explore how chronic pain patients respond to two positive variations of the expressive writing paradigm.Methods: Ninety-three participants with chronic pain were recruited from chronic pain forums and completed the writing exercise. Participants were randomized to either self-compassion or self-efficacy writing and wrote for 20 min once a week for three consecutive weeks. Participants completed baseline and post-writing measures of pain severity, illness intrusiveness, pain acceptance, pain catastrophizing, depression symptoms, life satisfaction, self-compassion and chronic pain self-efficacy.Results: Overall, both types of writing helped participants, who reported that the exercise was a positive experience. Raters were able to accurately identify the writing group for the majority of participants, which indicates that most participants followed the writing instructions. Few differences were found between the two writing groups, though when participants in either group reported an increase in self-compassion or self-efficacy, they also reported better physical and psychological outcomes.Conclusions: Participants with chronic pain appear to be open to self-compassion and self-efficacy writing. Positive writing may be useful to the extent that it increases self-compassion and self-efficacy.

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  • A lower attrition rate was found in Ziemer et al.'s (2015) study among chronic pain patients (22%), but the online writing program was half the duration of the current program and yielded no significant increase in self-compassion.

    “A lower attrition rate was found in Ziemer et al.'s (2015) study among chronic pain patients (22%), but the online writing program was half the duration of the current program and, perhaps more importantly, yielded no significant increase in self-compassion.”

    From Increasing access to pain management: Feasibility of a self-compassion psychoeducational website using a minimally monitored delivery model (2021) · cites this paper as Ziemer et al., 2015

  • Greater improvement was found in the present study when compared to two previous studies using self-compassion interventions among pain patients.

    “Greater improvement was found in the present study when compared to two previous studies using self-compassion interventions among pain patients (Torrijos-Zarcero et al., 2021; Ziemer et al., 2015).”

    From Increasing access to pain management: Feasibility of a self-compassion psychoeducational website using a minimally monitored delivery model (2021) · cites this paper as Ziemer et al., 2015

  • The short duration of the program and/or the fact that their sample presented with a high rate of psychopathology, a history of unsuccessful treatment in specialized units and high rates of disability may have played a role in the more modest outcomes reported in these investigations.

    “The short duration of the program (Ziemer et al., 2015) and/or the fact that their sample presented with a high rate of psychopathology, a history of unsuccessful treatment in specialized units and high rates of disability (Torrijos-Zarcero et al., 2021) may have played a role in the more modest outcomes reported in these investigations.”

    From Increasing access to pain management: Feasibility of a self-compassion psychoeducational website using a minimally monitored delivery model (2021) · cites this paper as Ziemer et al., 2015

  • Most participants were women, and other participant characteristics, such as ethnicity or proportion of clients residing in rural areas, were not assessed which could limit generalizability.

    “Like other pain studies (e.g., Ziemer et al., 2015), most participants were women, and other participant characteristics, such as the ethnicity or the proportion of clients residing in rural areas, were not assessed which could limit generalizability.”

    From Increasing access to pain management: Feasibility of a self-compassion psychoeducational website using a minimally monitored delivery model (2021) · cites this paper as Ziemer et al., 2015

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Authors
Ziemer, K. S., Fuhrmann, A., & Hoffman, M. A.
Affiliations
University of Maryland, College Park (US)
Corresponding author
Ziemer, Kathryn Schaefer
ORCID
Fuhrmann, Amy
Venue
MYOPAIN
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2015-10-02
Volume
23
Issue
3-4
Pages
143-154
ISSN
  • 2470-8593 (ISSN-L)
  • 2470-8607
DOI
10.1080/24708593.2017.1307893
OpenAlex
W2605592213
Cited by
17
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2018: 1
FWCI
0.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
MYOPAIN (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
Keywords
chronic pain, expressive writing, self-compassion, self-efficacy, musculoskeletal pain, pain acceptance, pain catastrophizing, depression, life satisfaction, illness intrusiveness, psychological intervention

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