---
title: Cognitive and Health Benefits of Expressive Writing for Family Caregivers Under Stress
nct_id: NCT00303147
overall_status: UNKNOWN
phase: PHASE1
sponsor: University of Toronto
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
primary_condition: Stress, Psychological
countries: Canada
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT00303147.md"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00303147"
ct_last_update_post_date: 2006-03-15
last_seen_at: "2026-05-12T06:43:26.784Z"
source: ClinicalTrials.gov (mirrored, no enrichment)
---
# Cognitive and Health Benefits of Expressive Writing for Family Caregivers Under Stress

**NCT ID:** [NCT00303147](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00303147)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** UNKNOWN
- **Phase:** PHASE1
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Target Enrollment:** 120
- **Lead Sponsor:** University of Toronto
- **Collaborators:** Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
- **Conditions:** Stress, Psychological, Anxiety
- **Start Date:** 2003-05
- **Completion Date:** 2005-07
- **CT.gov Last Update:** 2006-03-15

## Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if expressive writing is an effective intervention for reducing stress, enhancing cognition, and improving quality of life for caregivers of older adults with dementia

## Detailed Description

A significant and growing need exists to support caregivers of older adults with dementia, including methods of support that are easily implemented and targeted at caregivers who can not access multicomponent interventions. The current intervention examines the efficacy of one such approach: expressive writing (EW).

We are examining the efficacy of EW, in terms of its ability to reduce stress, enhance cognition, and improve well-being, by comparing it to two control conditions: objective writing about how caregivers spend their time (time management; TM) and objective writing about non-personal historical events (history writing; HW).

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 18 Years
- **Sex:** ALL
- **Healthy Volunteers:** Yes

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* Primary family caregiver for an older adult with dementia
* Self-reported caregiver stress or burden
* Fluency in written/spoken English

Exclusion Criteria:

* non-family or non-primary caregiver
* existing use of expressive writing / diary
```

## Interventions

- **Expressive Writing** (BEHAVIORAL)

## Primary Outcomes

- **General Health Questionnaire**
- **Impact of Events Scale**
- **Zarit Burden Interview (short form)**
- **California Verbal Learning Test**
- **Ruff 2 & 7 Selective Attention Test**
- **Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)**

## Locations (1)

- University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

## Recent Field Changes (last 30 days)

- `status.overallStatus` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.completionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.lastUpdatePostDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.phases` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.enrollmentCount` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.criteria` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.minAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.sex` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.primary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.interventions` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.lead` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.collaborators` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `results.hasResults` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `locations.university of toronto|toronto|ontario|canada` — added _(2026-05-12)_

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT00303147.md*  
*Source data (authoritative): https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00303147*  
*This page is a raw mirror with no AI summary, no editorial enrichment, and no Parkinson's-specific filtering.*