Expressing emotions and finding benefits (100421)

A number of controlled experiments have demonstrated the benefits of expressive disclosure on research participants' physical and psychological health. Developed by Pennebaker and Beall, the method typically involves random assignment of individuals to one of two conditions, with instructions to write or speak about their deepest thoughts and feelings regarding a stressful experience or about innocuous topics (control) over several brief experimental sessions.

Dependent variables include such indices as subsequent medical appointments, immune parameters, and subjective well-being. (...) Recently, the effects of expressive disclosure have been examined in medical patient samples. (...)

It seems that emotional disclosure can carry benefits for both physically healthy individuals and those diagnosed with chronic disease. However, only one known published study of experimentally manipulated emotional disclosure has been conducted with cancer patients. That study, using a relatively small sample, revealed no effect of a three-session home-based writing intervention on psychological adjustment. However, physical health outcomes were not assessed. (...)