Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Emotional Expression In First Generation Students, Elizabeth Munson, Kristina Grundmanis

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2013

Research suggests emotional expression is a successful tool for reducing stress in the short term (Pennebaker et al., 1990). The current study applied this approach to first generation college students (FGS). We hypothesized that emotional expression would reduce stress in FGS, and that the stress reduction would last longer in association with the number of emotional expression writing sessions. Although no group in the study showed a significant decrease in stress over the semester, having greater levels of social support was associated with lower anxiety.