| Pet loss bereavement has been associated with both mental and physical health consequences, similar to those associated with human loss bereavement; however, existing literature contains few empirical intervention studies geared toward this population. Expressive writing has been shown to improve mental and physical health in both healthy and clinical populations, and it has been used as an intervention for those who have experienced a stressful life event. In this study, 52 participants who had lost companion animals in the previous year took part in an online expressive writing intervention study. All participants scored 25 or higher on the Inventory of Complicated Grief, were at least 18-years of age, fluent in English, had reliable Internet access, and whose companion animal had lived with them in their households. Participants were placed into either an expressive writing group (n=26) or trivial writing (n=26) group. Participants in the expressive writing group were asked to write about emotional topics related to their losses for 20 minutes on three consecutive days. Participants in the trivial writing group were asked to write about non-emotional trivial topics for 20 minutes on three consecutive days. Several physical and mental health, which were the dependent measures in the study, were administered before the first writing session, after the third writing session, and at a one-month follow-up. A two-way ANOVA was conducted to look for group differences over time. No group differences were found for any of the dependent measures; however, there was a significant main effect regarding time on measures of general physical health and intrusion and avoidance of thoughts about the loss. Participants in the expressive writing group rated their writing a significantly more personal, meaningful and emotional than did those in the trivial writing group. No group differences were found based on participants' self-reports of cognitive change. A negative correlation was found between participants' levels of mindfulness, as measured by the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale, and depression change scores, as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Finally, participants who rated their losses as unexpected experienced a higher level of intrusive and avoidant thoughts about the loss, and greater symptoms of complicated grief, than did those who reported greater improvement over time. In summary, it appears that both the expressive writing and trivial writing group improved over time, and that time, itself, played a significant role in healing for this particular sample of bereaved participants. |
