{
  "creator": [
    "Schlintl, Carina",
    "Schienle, Anne"
  ],
  "date": [
    "2023-06-29"
  ],
  "description": [
    "Background: Expressive writing (EW: a personal form of writing about emotional distress, without regard to writing conventions) can improve physical and mental health. The present study investigated whether EW can reduce pathological skin-picking. In addition, the effects of two modalities of writing were contrasted with each other: computer vs. paper/pencil. Method: A total of 132 females with self-reported pathological skin-picking participated in a two-week intervention. They either carried out six EW sessions or wrote about six abstract paintings (control condition), using either paper/pencil or a computer. Before and after each session, participants rated their affective state and the urge to pick their skin via a smartphone application. Questionnaires for assessing skin-picking severity were completed before and after the two-week intervention. Results: The urge for skin-picking decreased directly after a writing session. The reduction was more pronounced in participants of the EW group, who also experienced reduced tension and increased feelings of relief at the end of a writing session. EW also reduced the severity of focused skin-picking after the two-week intervention. The writing modality had no differential effect on skin-picking symptoms. Conclusions: This study identified beneficial effects of EW on pathological skin-picking. A future study could investigate EW as a potential tool in the context of (online) psychotherapy for skin-picking disorder."
  ],
  "format": [
    "application/pdf",
    "text/html",
    "text/xml"
  ],
  "identifier": [
    "https://cpe.psychopen.eu/index.php/cpe/article/view/11215",
    "10.32872/cpe.11215"
  ],
  "language": [
    "eng"
  ],
  "publisher": [
    "PsychOpen GOLD / Leibniz Institut for Psychology (ZPID)"
  ],
  "relation": [
    "https://cpe.psychopen.eu/index.php/cpe/article/view/11215/11215.pdf",
    "https://cpe.psychopen.eu/index.php/cpe/article/view/11215/11215.html",
    "https://cpe.psychopen.eu/index.php/cpe/article/view/11215/11215.xml"
  ],
  "rights": [
    "Copyright (c) 2023 Carina Schlintl, Anne Schienle",
    "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"
  ],
  "source": [
    "Clinical Psychology in Europe; Vol. 5 No. 2 (2023); 1-18",
    "2625-3410",
    "10.32872/cpe.v5i2"
  ],
  "subject": [
    "skin-picking",
    "expressive writing",
    "app-assisted approach",
    "tension",
    "relief"
  ],
  "title": [
    "Reduction of Pathological Skin-Picking Via Expressive Writing: A Randomized Controlled Trial"
  ],
  "type": [
    "info:eu-repo/semantics/article",
    "info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion"
  ]
}