title: Feasibility and Participant Experiences of a Written Emotional Disclosure Intervention for Parental Caregivers of People with Psychosis.
abstract: Caregivers are at increased risk of poor health but often cannot engage with health care because of practical constraints. Writing therapies such as written emotional disclosure (WED) might represent an accessible therapy for this population. This study aimed to determine whether WED is a suitable therapy for caregivers of people with psychosis. Data were collected from a feasibility trial comparing WED with a neutral writing task. Twenty four participants completed writing tasks; the content was analysed using the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC) programme. Twenty one participants provided feedback about the writing task, and data were analysed using Burnard's thematic content analysis. WED was feasible to implement in caregivers of people with psychosis. All participants ascribed benefit to writing tasks, the majority describing a cathartic effect, enjoying time to oneself or distraction from caregiving. Quantitative comparison indicated differences in emotional content between intervention and control writing. However, qualitative analysis showed that control participants found it challenging to write neutrally, the majority citing the care-recipient in their writing. Community-based WED is a feasible therapy for caregivers of people with psychosis. The need for refinement of the control writing task for use in caregivers is discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Division of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Mayfield House, Village Way, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9PH, UK.
authors.forename: Christina J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Sussex Education Centre, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Millview Hospital Site, Nevill Avenue, Hove, BN3 7HZ, UK.|School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hayward
authors.affiliation: Division of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Mayfield House, Village Way, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9PH, UK.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK.
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Harwood
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK.
authors.forename: Crystyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hillemann
authors.affiliation: Division of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Mayfield House, Village Way, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9PH, UK.
authors.forename: Helen E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D030881:Disclosure; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004644:Emotions; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000451:nursing*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014956:Writing
keywords: caregivers; feasibility; intervention; stress; therapeutic writing; written emotional disclosure