title: Experiential self-focus writing as a facilitator of processing an interpersonal hurt.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the effects of experiential self-focus writing on changes in psychological outcomes (i.e., unforgiveness and negative affect) after an interpersonal hurt and the buffering effects of experiential self-focus writing on the association between anger rumination and these psychological outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 182 college students who had experienced interpersonal hurt were randomly assigned to either the experiential self-focus writing condition, in which participants wrote about their feelings and experiences related to the hurt, or to a control writing condition in which they wrote about a recent neutral event.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Latent growth curve analyses indicated that changes in unforgiveness over time did not differ between the experiential self-focus writing and the control writing conditions. However, relative to the control writing condition, negative affect decreased faster during writing and increased more slowly at follow-ups in the experiential self-focus writing condition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results supported the hypothesis that negative affect resulting from an interpersonal hurt would significantly decrease over time among participants in the experiential self-focus writing group compared with the control group. Implications of experiential self-focus writing for interpersonal hurt and directions for future studies are discussed.
authors: Department of Counseling & Family Therapy, University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO 63121, USA. liaok@umsl.edu
authors: Kelly Yu-Hsin
authors: KY
authors: Liao
authors: Meifen
authors: M
authors: Wei
authors: Daniel W
authors: DW
authors: Russell
authors: W Todd
authors: WT
authors: Abraham
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D005260:Female; D061347:Forgiveness; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D019455:Self Psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D014956:Writing; D055815:Young Adult