Does Guided Written Disclosure Reduce Distress and Improve Psychological Functioning in Patients with Skin Diseases?

Rossella Mattea Quinto, Luca Iani, Francesco De Vincenzo, Francesca Russo, Piero Porcelli and Damiano Abeni
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Rossella Mattea Quinto: Department of Human Sciences, European University of Rome, 00163 Rome, Italy
Luca Iani: Department of Human Sciences, European University of Rome, 00163 Rome, Italy
Francesco De Vincenzo: Department of Human Sciences, European University of Rome, 00163 Rome, Italy
Francesca Russo: Department of Human Sciences, European University of Rome, 00163 Rome, Italy
Piero Porcelli: Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, University of “G. D’Annunzio” Chieti–Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
Damiano Abeni: Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata, IDI-IRCCS, 00167 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: Background. Skin diseases (e.g., psoriasis and systemic sclerosis) are generally associated with negative psychosocial outcomes. Although different psychological interventions have been used to improve the quality of life of dermatological patients, the effects of the guided written disclosure (GWD) protocol have not been previously examined in these patients. Moreover, little attention has been paid to positive psychology constructs. Methods. This study investigates the effectiveness of GWD on positive and negative functioning in dermatological patients. Pre- and 1-month post-intervention measures included emotion regulation, sense of inner peace, skin-related symptoms and functioning, sense of coherence, and psychological distress. Results. A total of 196 consecutive outpatients were randomly assigned to GWD and active control groups, of whom 60 (30.6%) completed the study and 45 (GWD: n = 24; AC: n = 21) provided complete data. Our results did not show any significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the outcome variables, whereas non-completers reported higher levels of distress, unpleasant skin-related emotions, and lower cognitive reappraisal compared to completers. Conclusions. These findings show a poor compliance, and suggest that expressive writing is not well accepted by patients and is not effective in improving positive and negative psychological functioning in dermatological patients.

Keywords: dermatology; expressive writing; sense of coherence; psychological distress; emotion regulation; skin-related quality of life; sense of peace; positive psychology; randomized controlled trial (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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