Expressive writing about the terrorist attacks of March-Eleven 2004 in Madrid: A longitudinal study

This research examined the effects of the expressive writing about the terrorist attacks of March-Eleven 2004 in Madrid (M-11). The longitudinal study evaluated the personal and social consequences of the participation in writing about M-11—three weeks after the bombing (second time)—from a personal or first person perspective, versus a third person or collective perspective, and control group writing on social life during the last semester. Participants, which wrote about M-11 bombing three weeks after, reported lower intensity of emotional arousal, lower social sharing, and higher perceived balance of emotional climate than control group. Subjects, which narrated from a collective perspective, showed higher level of balance of emotional climate (particularly lower level of perceived negative emotions in others) at eight weeks after M-11 (social cohesion). While, individuals that wrote about their personal experience exhibited lower level of social sharing, emotional intensity, and rumination at two months follow-up after terrorist attacks. Results indicated that writing about general experience helps to reinforce a positive perception of emotional climate, writing about personal experience helped to personal affective regulation.