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Can emotional expressivity and writing content predict beneficial effects of expressive writing among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy? A secondary analysis of randomized controlled trial data from China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2021

Yanni Wu Open the ORCID record for Yanni Wu [Opens in a new window] ,
Dongliang Yang ,
Biao Jian ,
Chaixiu Li ,
Liping Liu ,
Wenji Li ,
Xiaojin Li  and
Chunlan Zhou
Yanni Wu
Affiliation:
Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China
Dongliang Yang
Affiliation:
Cangzhou Medical College, Cangzhou, Hebei, PR China
Biao Jian
Affiliation:
China Electronic Product Reliability and Environmental Testing Research Institute, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China
Chaixiu Li
Affiliation:
Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China
Liping Liu
Affiliation:
Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China
Wenji Li
Affiliation:
Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China
Xiaojin Li
Affiliation:
Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China
Chunlan Zhou*
Affiliation:
Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China
*
Author for correspondence: Chunlan Zhou, E-mail: lanchun200488@126.com
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Abstract

Background

To explore whether emotional expressivity and the patterns of language use could predict benefits from expressive writing (EW) of breast cancer (BC) patients in a culture that strongly discourages emotional disclosure.

Methods

Data were obtained from a recent trial in which we compared the health outcomes between a prolonged EW group (12 sessions) and a standard EW group (four sessions) (n = 56 per group) of BC patients receiving chemotherapy. The Chinese texts were tokenized using the THU Lexical Analyser for Chinese. Then, LIWC2015 was used to quantify positive and negative affect word use.

Results

Our first hypothesis that BC patients with higher levels of emotional expressivity tended to use higher levels of positive and negative affect words in texts was not supported (r = 0.067, p = 0.549 and r = 0.065, p = 0.559, respectively). The level of emotional expressivity has a significant effect on the quality of life (QOL), and those who used more positive or fewer negative affective words in texts had a better QOL (all p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was identified in physical and psychological well-being (all p > 0.05). Furthermore, the patterns of affective word use during EW did not mediate the effects of emotional expressivity on health outcomes (all p > 0.05).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that the level of emotional expressivity and the pattern of affective word use could be factors that may moderate the effects of EW on QOL, which may help clinicians identify the individuals most likely to benefit from such writing exercises in China.

Keywords

Breast cancerchemotherapyemotional expressivityexpressive writingnursing practicequality of lifewriting content
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , March 2023 , pp. 1527 - 1541
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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