Online writing about positive life experiences reduces depression and perceived stress reactivity in socially inhibited individuals

Allen, Sarah F., Wetherell, Mark and Smith, Michael (2020) Online writing about positive life experiences reduces depression and perceived stress reactivity in socially inhibited individuals. Psychiatry Research, 284. p. 112697. ISSN 0165-1781

[img]
Preview
Text
Psychiatry_Research_online_writing_FINAL_REVISED.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 4.0.

Download (737kB) | Preview
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112697

Abstract

Therapeutic writing can enhance psychological and physical health. Recent studies have suggested that these kinds of interventions can be effective when delivered online. The present study investigated whether positive emotional writing online can influence psychological and physical health in individuals reporting high levels of negative affectivity, who are most likely to benefit from psychological intervention (N = 72, Mage = 28.5, SDage = 8.7), and further, to investigate the potential moderating role of social inhibition. Participants completed self-report measures of physical symptoms, perceived stress, perceived stress reactivity, depression and generalised anxiety, before completing either i) positive emotional writing, or ii) a non-emotive control writing task on an online portal, for 20 minutes per day over three consecutive days. State anxiety was measured immediately after each writing session, and self-report questionnaires were again administered four weeks post-writing. Socially inhibited individuals exhibited significant reductions in depression and perceived stress reactivity four weeks following positive emotional writing, relative to writing about a neutral topic. The present study supports the efficacy of online therapeutic writing in individuals who, due to their socially inhibited nature, are most likely to benefit from online interventions which avoid interaction with a therapist or other clients.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Digital Interventions, Therapeutic Writing, Positive Writing, Depression, Stress, Social Inhibition
Subjects: C800 Psychology
Department: Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User: Elena Carlaw
Date Deposited: 26 Nov 2019 14:46
Last Modified: 31 Jul 2021 13:45
URI: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/41609

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics