Writing Wrongs: A Clinical Trial of an Adapted Expressive Writing Activity for Minoritized Students at Predominantly White Institutions Who Experience Microaggressions

Abstract

Racial and ethnic based stressors, such as microaggressions, compound upon universally experienced stressors of higher education and result in lasting negative repercussions for minoritized students enrolled at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs; e.g., Harwood et al., 2018; Lewis et al., 2021; Sue et al., 2007). Informed by the ADAPT-ITT model (Wingood & DiClemente, 2008), we piloted an adapted version of expressive writing (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986) that specifically addresses microaggressions experienced by minoritized students (Brydon Chesnutt et al., 2025). This pilot study demonstrated the acceptability of an adapted version titled Writing Wrongs. In the current pre-registered clinical trial, we sought to establish its efficacy. To do this, we assigned 70 college students with minoritized racial and/or ethnic identities to the Writing Wrongs or the Assessment-Only condition, using quasi-random assignment (i.e., alternating assignment). Consistent with our hypotheses, individuals assigned to the Writing Wrongs condition demonstrated a greater reduction in racial and discriminatory trauma symptoms, general distress, and general stress through one-week follow-up as well as a greater reduction in posttraumatic stress symptoms through the final writing session (i.e., session 3) as compared to the Assessment-Only condition. We also conducted exploratory analyses of short-term changes in affect within and across sessions and conditions, which found that condition was not a significant predictor of affect change. Finally, participants’ feedback suggested that Writing Wrongs was perceived as helpful, necessary, relevant, and something participants liked. The current findings provide support for the efficacy of Writing Wrongs and further efforts to finalize the intervention for dissemination.