Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40035928›Full record

ReviewDiscover mental health2025

A scoping review of school-based expressive writing implementation reporting practices: missed opportunities and new research directions.

Janet Amos, Justin Moase, Ingrid E Sladeczek

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Discover mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Janet AmosDepartment of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 Rue McTavish Suite 614, Montreal, QC, H3A 1Y2, Canada. janet.amos@mail.mcgill.ca.
Justin MoaseDepartment of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ingrid E SladeczekDepartment of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 Rue McTavish Suite 614, Montreal, QC, H3A 1Y2, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundExpressive writing (EW) interventions are an effective, flexible, and cost-efficient option for mental health promotion, making them ideally suited for resource-limited school settings. However, the effectiveness of EW interventions varies greatly across studies, which may be partly explained by how EW interventions are implemented. As school-based EW interventions become increasingly popular and more widely used, rigorous reporting of implementation can help advance this emerging field by informing how variation in implementation across studies influences intervention outcomes. PURPOSE: The purpose of this scoping review was to evaluate the implementation reporting practices of EW interventions in school settings as they can profoundly impact EW effectiveness.

methodsThe present scoping review assessed the current state of fidelity of implementation (implementation) reporting in the school-based EW literature and identified areas where more rigorous reporting is needed. Out of an initial sample of 367 studies, 19 were eligible for inclusion in the review. Data were analyzed for critical issues and themes derived from Cargo et al.'s (2015) Checklist for Implementation (Ch-IMP).

resultsOverall, the results of this scoping review indicate that researchers who implement EW in school settings have not consistently assessed key implementation domains such as dose received and fidelity.

conclusionsTo address this problem, the present review adds a unique contribution to the literature by identifying how rigorous reporting of implementation can strengthen the evidence base for school-based EW interventions. Specifically, researchers can support the use of EW interventions in schools through increased implementation reporting to better understand how variability in fidelity of implementation affects treatment outcomes.

Indexed as

AdolescentsExpressive writingImplementationSchool

Identifiers

PMID40035928
PMCPMC11880461

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.