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The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences
Abstract
In a variation on Pennebaker’s writing paradigm, a sample of 90 undergraduates were randomly assigned to write about either an intensely positive experience (IPE) (n=48) or a control topic (n=42) for 20min each day for three consecutive days. Mood measures were taken before and after writing. Three months later, measures of health center visits for illness were obtained. Writing about IPEs was associated with enhanced positive mood. Writing about IPEs was also associated with significantly fewer health center visits for illness, compared to controls. Results are interpreted as challenging previously considered mechanisms of the positive benefits of writing.
... According to the broaden-and-build hypothesis of positive emotion [22], positive emotions may help expand individual's momentary thought-action resources and enable them to think and solve problems in a more flexible way, and further construct sustainable coping resources and skills, ultimately improving emotional problems and enhancing well-being. A series of studies have tested the role of positive emotional writing in both clinical and nonclinical settings, and found that it could not only reduce negative emotions such as depression and anxiety, but also improve positive experiences such as well-being [19,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. For example, Smith and his colleagues (2018) recruited 71 participants with an average age of 28.2 years and randomly divided them into the positive emotional writing group and the control group [19]. ...
... After positive emotional writing tasks with 20 min per day over three consecutive days, the experimental group had significantly lower levels of trait anxiety and stress compared to the control group. Another study adopted the same positive emotion writing paradigm among 90 undergraduate students to explore its effectiveness, and found that positive emotional writing is beneficial for increasing positive emotions [25]. A study on high school students also found that positive emotional writing with 20 min per day over 30 consecutive days can help reduce anxiety [28]. ...
... Furthermore, the experimental group underwent a positive emotional writing intervention on the foundation of the routine psychological care. The specific content, duration, and frequency of writing are shown in Table 1, which refers to the paradigm of previous related research [19,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. ...
Background
Depression and anxiety are common psychological issues among international medical students in universities, which have serious negative impacts on their learning and life. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of positive emotional writing in alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as enhancing subjective well-being among this population.
Method
This study was conducted at an international college of a comprehensive university in central China. A total of ninety-two participants who met the inclusion criteria were recruited to participate in a single-blind randomized controlled trial, in which participants were not aware that there was an experimental group and a control group. Participants in control received daily psychological care weekly for 8 weeks (n = 46). Correspondingly, participants in experimental group received the positive emotional writing intervention on the basis of daily psychological care. Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and General Well-being Scale (GWB) were used to evaluate the effect of the intervention. Data from 89 students who completed the entire study (experimental group, n = 44; control group, n = 45) were analyzed.
Results
After the intervention, the scores of SDS and SAS in the experimental group significantly decreased, while the subjective well-being score significantly increased. Although the SAS score of the control group after intervention was significantly lower than before, the decrease in SDS and SAS scores, as well as the increase in GWB score, were significantly greater in the experimental group than in the control group.
Conclusion
The findings suggest that positive emotional writing can effectively reduce the depression and anxiety of international medical students, and significantly enhance their subjective well-being, providing ideas for management to solve the psychological problems of international medical students.
Trial registration number
ChiCTR2400087815. Registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry.
... More recently, many studies have reported the psychological wellbeing benefits of writing about positive topics. In a flagship study, Burton and King (2004) observed that, in comparison to writing about a neutral topic, writing about positive life experiences for 20 min per day, over three consecutive days, was associated with increases in positive mood following each writing session [3]. ...
... More recently, many studies have reported the psychological wellbeing benefits of writing about positive topics. In a flagship study, Burton and King (2004) observed that, in comparison to writing about a neutral topic, writing about positive life experiences for 20 min per day, over three consecutive days, was associated with increases in positive mood following each writing session [3]. ...
... The 'Evenly Present Elements' option was not used; thus, the number of participants previously allocated to a condition was not taken into account when randomising subsequent participants. The instructions for the positive writing activity were obtained from Burton and King (2004) [3]. Participants were instructed to "Think of the most wonderful experience or experiences in your life, happiest moments, ecstatic moments, moments of rapture, perhaps from being in love, or from listening to music, or suddenly 'being hit' by a book or painting or from some great creative moment. ...
Background: Positive expressive writing is associated with enhanced psychological wellbeing. Several individual differences are known to moderate the enhancement effects of positive expressive writing, but no studies to date have investigated the optimal dietary conditions under which expressive writing effects occur. In this pilot study, we sought to investigate whether diet quality and dietary fibre intake moderate the effects of positive writing on mood. Methods: The participants (12 males, 25 females, Mage = 33.0, SDage = 13.1) completed self-reported measures of dietary quality, dietary fibre intake, and positive and negative affect. They were then randomly allocated to complete either a positive expressive writing or neutral writing activity for 10 min. Positive and negative affect were measured again immediately after each activity. Results: Those participants who reported better diet quality and greater dietary fibre intake exhibited a significantly greater increase in positive affect following positive expressive writing relative to neutral writing. No significant effects were observed for negative affect. Conclusions: For the first time, we report that the effects of positive expressive writing on positive mood are enhanced under optimal dietary conditions. Further replication studies are needed to determine whether dietary factors can influence the conditions under which positive expressive writing benefits occur. We speculate that dietary influences on the gut–brain axis are a potential mechanism.
... The foundation of meaning is a sense of community and connectedness with others (Baumeister & Vohs, 2002). In young adults, research suggests writing about pivotal challenging and positive life experiences, and crafting a coherent personal narrative, are associated with many well-being outcomes (Burton & King, 2004;Pennebaker, 1997;Pennebaker & Beall, 1986). In a small study of high school and university students writing a back-and-forth journal about a multicultural young adult novel, participants noted the interactive journal dialogue helped them make sense of their own lives (Bean & Rigoni, 2001). ...
... Children and early adolescents who kept a daily diary of positive events showed increased happiness, higher levels of school satisfaction, and fewer depressive symptoms (Carter et al., 2018;Froh et al., 2008). Children who wrote about positive emotional experiences, gratitude, or best possible selves showed lower negative emotions and higher positive emotions, subjective happiness, life satisfaction, and gratitude, which buffered the effects of stress (Booker & Dunsmore, 2017;Burton & King, 2004;Emmons & McCullough, 2003;King, 2001;Toepfer & Walker, 2009). ...
... Overall, research supports links between writing about positive topics and well-being outcomes, including positive emotions that broaden attention and perspective, facilitating opportunities to build skills and cultivate health benefits (Burton & King, 2004). A non-familial intergenerational Positive Pen Pal writing intervention involving EBH's seniors and youth is viable to broaden positive emotions, enrich meaning and connectedness, and promote well-being. ...
The Positive Pen Pal Program is an intergenerational initiative designed to increase the well-being of senior and youth residents at Education Based Housing, Inc.’s (EBH) affordable housing communities through communication exchanges involving writing about positive events and experiences, art, and music. The pilot program involves a month-long, bi-directional letter writing exchange about topics such as gratitude, meaning, and purpose between ten pairs of residents, with each pair comprised of a senior resident and a youth resident. This project provides a stand-alone playbook for EBH’s Resident Engagement Specialists. The playbook includes a brief introduction to well-being; sample recruitment letters for seniors and youth; sample instruction letters for seniors and youth; sample prompts for writing about positive events and experiences, art, and music; sample marketing information to solicit sponsorship from community businesses; measurement tools to assess aspects of well-being of the participants; and survey questions to assess the impact of the program on the participants. The implications of this work include enhanced understanding of the interplay among positive psychology, the humanities, and intergenerational interventions in affordable housing communities. Beneficially, this intervention is low-resource and expandable across multiple humanities domains and residential communities.
... In ihren Analysen kommt King zur Feststellung, dass auch das Schreiben über positive Aspekte wirkungsvoll ist und somit eine weitere Möglichkeit darstellt Schreibinterventionen anzuwenden, ohne die Schreibenden emotional zu belasten: "Results indicate that writing about life goals is another way to enjoy the health benefits of writing without the emotional costs" (King, 2001, S. 804). Ihren Ausführungen zufolge ist das positive Schreiben weniger belastend als das Niederschreiben traumatischer Erlebnisse und geht trotzdem mit einer signifikanten Verbesserung der Lebensqualität und des subjektiven Wohlbefindens einher (King, 2001) und trägt darüber hinaus dazu bei, dass bei den Schreibenden kognitive Prozesse angestoßen werden, die ohne positive Schreibinterventionen nicht verarbeitet werden (Burton & King, 2004). ...
... In ihrer "Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions" geht sie davon aus, dass "positive emotions appear to broaden peoples' momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources" (Fredrickson, 2004(Fredrickson, , S. 1369. Darunter ist zu verstehen, dass positive Emotionen wie Freude, Interesse, Zufriedenheit und Liebe die Aufmerksamkeit und Denkprozesse, also die menschliche Wahrnehmung des Einzelnen, erweitern ("broaden") und die Möglichkeit zum Aufbau von Fähigkeiten einräumen, wodurch positiv emotionale Erfahrungen langfristige Ressourcen sowie dauerhafte Vorteile ("build") auf das Individuum haben können und dahingehend Kreativität, Copingstrategien, Problemlösungsfähigkeiten sowie Entscheidungsfindungen fördern und verbessern (Burton & King, 2004). ...
... In ihren Analysen kommt King zur Feststellung, dass auch das Schreiben über positive Aspekte wirkungsvoll ist und somit eine weitere Möglichkeit darstellt Schreibinterventionen anzuwenden, ohne die Schreibenden emotional zu belasten: "Results indicate that writing about life goals is another way to enjoy the health benefits of writing without the emotional costs" (King, 2001, S. 804). Ihren Ausführungen zufolge ist das positive Schreiben weniger belastend als das Niederschreiben traumatischer Erlebnisse und geht trotzdem mit einer signifikanten Verbesserung der Lebensqualität und des subjektiven Wohlbefindens einher (King, 2001) und trägt darüber hinaus dazu bei, dass bei den Schreibenden kognitive Prozesse angestoßen werden, die ohne positive Schreibinterventionen nicht verarbeitet werden (Burton & King, 2004). ...
... In ihrer "Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions" geht sie davon aus, dass "positive emotions appear to broaden peoples' momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources" (Fredrickson, 2004(Fredrickson, , S. 1369. Darunter ist zu verstehen, dass positive Emotionen wie Freude, Interesse, Zufriedenheit und Liebe die Aufmerksamkeit und Denkprozesse, also die menschliche Wahrnehmung des Einzelnen, erweitern ("broaden") und die Möglichkeit zum Aufbau von Fähigkeiten einräumen, wodurch positiv emotionale Erfahrungen langfristige Ressourcen sowie dauerhafte Vorteile ("build") auf das Individuum haben können und dahingehend Kreativität, Copingstrategien, Problemlösungsfähigkeiten sowie Entscheidungsfindungen fördern und verbessern (Burton & King, 2004). ...
Zusammenfassung
In diesem Kapitel werden abschließende Gedanken zu dieser Arbeit vorgestellt und unter Berücksichtigung der dargestellten Ergebnisse (Kapitel 13) weiterer Forschungsbedarf aufgezeigt und formuliert.
... In ihren Analysen kommt King zur Feststellung, dass auch das Schreiben über positive Aspekte wirkungsvoll ist und somit eine weitere Möglichkeit darstellt Schreibinterventionen anzuwenden, ohne die Schreibenden emotional zu belasten: "Results indicate that writing about life goals is another way to enjoy the health benefits of writing without the emotional costs" (King, 2001, S. 804). Ihren Ausführungen zufolge ist das positive Schreiben weniger belastend als das Niederschreiben traumatischer Erlebnisse und geht trotzdem mit einer signifikanten Verbesserung der Lebensqualität und des subjektiven Wohlbefindens einher (King, 2001) und trägt darüber hinaus dazu bei, dass bei den Schreibenden kognitive Prozesse angestoßen werden, die ohne positive Schreibinterventionen nicht verarbeitet werden (Burton & King, 2004). ...
... In ihrer "Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions" geht sie davon aus, dass "positive emotions appear to broaden peoples' momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources" (Fredrickson, 2004(Fredrickson, , S. 1369. Darunter ist zu verstehen, dass positive Emotionen wie Freude, Interesse, Zufriedenheit und Liebe die Aufmerksamkeit und Denkprozesse, also die menschliche Wahrnehmung des Einzelnen, erweitern ("broaden") und die Möglichkeit zum Aufbau von Fähigkeiten einräumen, wodurch positiv emotionale Erfahrungen langfristige Ressourcen sowie dauerhafte Vorteile ("build") auf das Individuum haben können und dahingehend Kreativität, Copingstrategien, Problemlösungsfähigkeiten sowie Entscheidungsfindungen fördern und verbessern (Burton & King, 2004). ...
Zusammenfassung
Nachdem in Abschnitt 12.2 durch individuelle Fallbeschreibungen die jeweiligen Pflegesituationen und -beziehungen eingehend beschrieben wurden, erfolgt nun eine fallübergreifende Ergebnisdarstellung. Dabei werden mit Blick auf die in Kapitel 6 dargestellten Forschungsfragen die induktiv und deduktiv ausgewerteten Analyseergebnisse der Tagebucheinträge sowie der Interviews aufgezeigt und interpretiert. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf der Beschreibung und Wahrnehmung schöner Momente, deren Wirkung auf pflegende Angehörige und Menschen mit Demenz sowie der Bewertung und Reflexion der Tagebuchmethode.
... In ihren Analysen kommt King zur Feststellung, dass auch das Schreiben über positive Aspekte wirkungsvoll ist und somit eine weitere Möglichkeit darstellt Schreibinterventionen anzuwenden, ohne die Schreibenden emotional zu belasten: "Results indicate that writing about life goals is another way to enjoy the health benefits of writing without the emotional costs" (King, 2001, S. 804). Ihren Ausführungen zufolge ist das positive Schreiben weniger belastend als das Niederschreiben traumatischer Erlebnisse und geht trotzdem mit einer signifikanten Verbesserung der Lebensqualität und des subjektiven Wohlbefindens einher (King, 2001) und trägt darüber hinaus dazu bei, dass bei den Schreibenden kognitive Prozesse angestoßen werden, die ohne positive Schreibinterventionen nicht verarbeitet werden (Burton & King, 2004). ...
... In ihrer "Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions" geht sie davon aus, dass "positive emotions appear to broaden peoples' momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources" (Fredrickson, 2004(Fredrickson, , S. 1369. Darunter ist zu verstehen, dass positive Emotionen wie Freude, Interesse, Zufriedenheit und Liebe die Aufmerksamkeit und Denkprozesse, also die menschliche Wahrnehmung des Einzelnen, erweitern ("broaden") und die Möglichkeit zum Aufbau von Fähigkeiten einräumen, wodurch positiv emotionale Erfahrungen langfristige Ressourcen sowie dauerhafte Vorteile ("build") auf das Individuum haben können und dahingehend Kreativität, Copingstrategien, Problemlösungsfähigkeiten sowie Entscheidungsfindungen fördern und verbessern (Burton & King, 2004). ...
Zusammenfassung
Die Sorge für Menschen mit Demenz wird von pflegenden Angehörigen häufig aus einer Belastungsperspektive wahrgenommen. Sinnstiftende und berührende Momente zwischen pflegenden Angehörigen und Menschen mit Demenz werden dabei vielfach nicht mehr bewusst erlebt. Da Aspekte der inneren Bereicherung und Erfüllung aber durchaus erfahren werden können, ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit, ebendiese Momente zwischen pflegenden Angehörigen und Menschen mit Demenz wieder fassbar zu machen.
... In ihren Analysen kommt King zur Feststellung, dass auch das Schreiben über positive Aspekte wirkungsvoll ist und somit eine weitere Möglichkeit darstellt Schreibinterventionen anzuwenden, ohne die Schreibenden emotional zu belasten: "Results indicate that writing about life goals is another way to enjoy the health benefits of writing without the emotional costs" (King, 2001, S. 804). Ihren Ausführungen zufolge ist das positive Schreiben weniger belastend als das Niederschreiben traumatischer Erlebnisse und geht trotzdem mit einer signifikanten Verbesserung der Lebensqualität und des subjektiven Wohlbefindens einher (King, 2001) und trägt darüber hinaus dazu bei, dass bei den Schreibenden kognitive Prozesse angestoßen werden, die ohne positive Schreibinterventionen nicht verarbeitet werden (Burton & King, 2004). ...
... In ihrer "Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions" geht sie davon aus, dass "positive emotions appear to broaden peoples' momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources" (Fredrickson, 2004(Fredrickson, , S. 1369. Darunter ist zu verstehen, dass positive Emotionen wie Freude, Interesse, Zufriedenheit und Liebe die Aufmerksamkeit und Denkprozesse, also die menschliche Wahrnehmung des Einzelnen, erweitern ("broaden") und die Möglichkeit zum Aufbau von Fähigkeiten einräumen, wodurch positiv emotionale Erfahrungen langfristige Ressourcen sowie dauerhafte Vorteile ("build") auf das Individuum haben können und dahingehend Kreativität, Copingstrategien, Problemlösungsfähigkeiten sowie Entscheidungsfindungen fördern und verbessern (Burton & King, 2004). ...
Zusammenfassung
Der aktuellen Pflegestatistik (Stand 2022) zufolge sind in Deutschland etwa 5,0 Millionen Menschen im Sinne des SGB XI pflegebedürftig. Ein Großteil dieser pflegebedürftigen Menschen (84 %; 4,2 Millionen) wird dabei in der Häuslichkeit von pflegenden Angehörigen begleitet und versorgt. Etwa 63 % dieser pflegebedürftigen Personen bezieht hierbei ausschließlich Pflegegeld, weshalb davon auszugehen ist, dass diese in der Regel hauptsächlich in Unterstützung von pflegenden Angehörigen begleitet und versorgt werden (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2022).
... In ihren Analysen kommt King zur Feststellung, dass auch das Schreiben über positive Aspekte wirkungsvoll ist und somit eine weitere Möglichkeit darstellt Schreibinterventionen anzuwenden, ohne die Schreibenden emotional zu belasten: "Results indicate that writing about life goals is another way to enjoy the health benefits of writing without the emotional costs" (King, 2001, S. 804). Ihren Ausführungen zufolge ist das positive Schreiben weniger belastend als das Niederschreiben traumatischer Erlebnisse und geht trotzdem mit einer signifikanten Verbesserung der Lebensqualität und des subjektiven Wohlbefindens einher (King, 2001) und trägt darüber hinaus dazu bei, dass bei den Schreibenden kognitive Prozesse angestoßen werden, die ohne positive Schreibinterventionen nicht verarbeitet werden (Burton & King, 2004). ...
... In ihrer "Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions" geht sie davon aus, dass "positive emotions appear to broaden peoples' momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources" (Fredrickson, 2004(Fredrickson, , S. 1369. Darunter ist zu verstehen, dass positive Emotionen wie Freude, Interesse, Zufriedenheit und Liebe die Aufmerksamkeit und Denkprozesse, also die menschliche Wahrnehmung des Einzelnen, erweitern ("broaden") und die Möglichkeit zum Aufbau von Fähigkeiten einräumen, wodurch positiv emotionale Erfahrungen langfristige Ressourcen sowie dauerhafte Vorteile ("build") auf das Individuum haben können und dahingehend Kreativität, Copingstrategien, Problemlösungsfähigkeiten sowie Entscheidungsfindungen fördern und verbessern (Burton & King, 2004). ...
Zusammenfassung
In diesem Kapitel wird vor dem Hintergrund der forschungsethischen Grundlage (Abschnitt 9.1), welche insbesondere in der Forschung mit einer vulnerablen Personengruppe essentiell ist, der Zugang zu den teilnehmenden pflegenden Angehörigen beschrieben. Dabei wird in Abschnitt 9.2 die angewandte Rekrutierungsstrategie aufgezeigt und im Detail dargestellt. Darüber hinaus erfolgt eine kurze Beschreibung der an der Studie teilnehmenden pflegenden Angehörigen (Abschnitt 9.3) sowie einer Betrachtung des Interviewsettings (Abschnitt 9.4).
... In ihren Analysen kommt King zur Feststellung, dass auch das Schreiben über positive Aspekte wirkungsvoll ist und somit eine weitere Möglichkeit darstellt Schreibinterventionen anzuwenden, ohne die Schreibenden emotional zu belasten: "Results indicate that writing about life goals is another way to enjoy the health benefits of writing without the emotional costs" (King, 2001, S. 804). Ihren Ausführungen zufolge ist das positive Schreiben weniger belastend als das Niederschreiben traumatischer Erlebnisse und geht trotzdem mit einer signifikanten Verbesserung der Lebensqualität und des subjektiven Wohlbefindens einher (King, 2001) und trägt darüber hinaus dazu bei, dass bei den Schreibenden kognitive Prozesse angestoßen werden, die ohne positive Schreibinterventionen nicht verarbeitet werden (Burton & King, 2004). ...
... In ihrer "Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions" geht sie davon aus, dass "positive emotions appear to broaden peoples' momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources" (Fredrickson, 2004(Fredrickson, , S. 1369. Darunter ist zu verstehen, dass positive Emotionen wie Freude, Interesse, Zufriedenheit und Liebe die Aufmerksamkeit und Denkprozesse, also die menschliche Wahrnehmung des Einzelnen, erweitern ("broaden") und die Möglichkeit zum Aufbau von Fähigkeiten einräumen, wodurch positiv emotionale Erfahrungen langfristige Ressourcen sowie dauerhafte Vorteile ("build") auf das Individuum haben können und dahingehend Kreativität, Copingstrategien, Problemlösungsfähigkeiten sowie Entscheidungsfindungen fördern und verbessern (Burton & King, 2004). ...
Zusammenfassung
Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Forschungsarbeit sollen pflegende Angehörige von Menschen mit Demenz durch die Anwendung der Tagebuch-Methode für die Wahrnehmung schöner Momente im Alltag sensibilisiert werden. Dabei tritt durch individuelle Aufzeichnungen der Schreibenden die Sichtweise des Individuums als primärer Bezugspunkt in den Vordergrund der Betrachtung und ermöglicht so die Betrachtung des inneren „Seelenlebens“ sowie die Abbildung der „Einzigartigkeit dieser Lebensphase“.
... In ihren Analysen kommt King zur Feststellung, dass auch das Schreiben über positive Aspekte wirkungsvoll ist und somit eine weitere Möglichkeit darstellt Schreibinterventionen anzuwenden, ohne die Schreibenden emotional zu belasten: "Results indicate that writing about life goals is another way to enjoy the health benefits of writing without the emotional costs" (King, 2001, S. 804). Ihren Ausführungen zufolge ist das positive Schreiben weniger belastend als das Niederschreiben traumatischer Erlebnisse und geht trotzdem mit einer signifikanten Verbesserung der Lebensqualität und des subjektiven Wohlbefindens einher (King, 2001) und trägt darüber hinaus dazu bei, dass bei den Schreibenden kognitive Prozesse angestoßen werden, die ohne positive Schreibinterventionen nicht verarbeitet werden (Burton & King, 2004). ...
... In ihrer "Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions" geht sie davon aus, dass "positive emotions appear to broaden peoples' momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources" (Fredrickson, 2004(Fredrickson, , S. 1369. Darunter ist zu verstehen, dass positive Emotionen wie Freude, Interesse, Zufriedenheit und Liebe die Aufmerksamkeit und Denkprozesse, also die menschliche Wahrnehmung des Einzelnen, erweitern ("broaden") und die Möglichkeit zum Aufbau von Fähigkeiten einräumen, wodurch positiv emotionale Erfahrungen langfristige Ressourcen sowie dauerhafte Vorteile ("build") auf das Individuum haben können und dahingehend Kreativität, Copingstrategien, Problemlösungsfähigkeiten sowie Entscheidungsfindungen fördern und verbessern (Burton & King, 2004). ...
Zusammenfassung
Wie im theoretischen Teil dargestellt, gibt es wenig bis kaum empirische Befunde zur Wahrnehmung schöner Momente in der Pflege und Begleitung eines Menschen mit Demenz. Daraus ergibt sich nicht nur die Frage nach wahrgenommenen schönen Momenten in der Pflege und Begleitung, vielmehr wird eine Lücke in der Versorgung pflegender Angehöriger von Menschen mit Demenz sichtbar. Aus diesen Gründen erweist sich ein qualitativ-exploratives Vorgehen in diesem Forschungsprojekt als besonders geeignet, denn qualitative Forschung fokussiert dabei die Theoriebildung, welche im Verlauf der Untersuchung eines unbekannten Falls konstruiert wird und dabei.
... Conversely, writing about positive experiences tends to improve mood immediately after writing (Burton & King, 2004King, 2001). For example, college students writing about their most positive life experience had significantly higher positive affect and significantly lower negative affect, compared to a control writing group, immediately post writing (Burton & King, 2009). ...
... Writing about one's best possible self has also been found to lead to greater increase in positive affect, and no difference in negative affect, compared to controls (Nazarian & Smyth, 2013). The promising results of these preliminary studies examining health effects of writing about positive experiences (Burton & King, 2004King, 2001) have led researchers to question whether, for some PRINTED FROM OXFORD HANDBOOKS ONLINE (www.oxfordhandbooks.com). © Oxford University Press, 2018. ...
and Keywords Expressive writing (EW) was developed in the 1980s by Pennebaker and colleagues, who defined it as "writing focusing on traumatic, stressful or emotional events, and the feelings inspired by these." There have been developments in terms of process, covering a range of instructions, target groups, and writing conditions and, more recently, benefit-finding writing (BFW) about benefits derived from stress or traumatic situations. EW has now been trialed across a broad range of situations, involving mental and physical health domains. Results from meta-analyses find small but significant improvements more related to physical health than mental health parameters. It is thought to be best suited to people with mild-to-moderate psychological distress who are addressing stress-related conditions and situations. The chapter describes common forms of EW and explores the place of BFW. Some mechanisms for expressive writing are discussed, but these are still speculative.
... Positive activities are defined as actions that imitate the healthy thoughts and behaviors of a naturally happy person [92]. Such activities are typically meant to be easy to perform on a regular basis [133], such as maintaining a journal [23,24], counting blessings [42], and visualizing one's "best self" [75]. The ideal activities to engender positive emotions differ from person-to-person, so research suggests that the choice should be made by the individuals themselves [92]. ...
... Inspiration from [54] borrowed from literature on CBT with a specific focus on principles of gratitude, social connectedness, and positive activities [17,23,48,52,97]. We also turned to literature on positive psychology and clinical psychology [37,54,102,103,132], particularly on processes such as the identification of positive life elements and the planning of actions that could lead to positive outcomes and feelings. ...
One-way text messaging services have the potential to support psychological wellbeing at scale without conversational partners. However, there is limited understanding of what challenges are faced in mapping interactions typically done face-to-face or via online interactive resources into a text messaging medium. To explore this design space, we developed seven text messages inspired by cognitive behavioral therapy. We then conducted an open-ended survey with 788 undergraduate students and follow-up interviews with students and clinical psychologists to understand how people perceived these messages and the factors they anticipated would drive their engagement. We leveraged those insights to revise our messages, after which we deployed our messages via a technology probe to 11 students for two weeks. Through our mixed-methods approach, we highlight challenges and opportunities for future text messaging services, such as the importance of concrete suggestions and flexible pre-scheduled message timing.
... Positive activities are defined as actions that imitate the healthy thoughts and behaviors of a naturally happy person [92]. Such activities are typically meant to be easy to perform on a regular basis [133], such as maintaining a journal [23,24], counting blessings [42], and visualizing one's "best self" [75]. The ideal activities to engender positive emotions differ from person-to-person, so research suggests that the choice should be made by the individuals themselves [92]. ...
... Inspiration from [54] borrowed from literature on CBT with a specific focus on principles of gratitude, social connectedness, and positive activities [17,23,48,52,97]. We also turned to literature on positive psychology and clinical psychology [37,54,102,103,132], particularly on processes such as the identification of positive life elements and the planning of actions that could lead to positive outcomes and feelings. ...
One-way text messaging services have the potential to support psychological wellbeing at scale without conversational partners. However, there is limited understanding of what challenges are faced in mapping interactions typically done face-to-face or via online interactive resources into a text messaging medium. To explore this design space, we developed seven text messages inspired by cognitive behavioral therapy. We then conducted an open-ended survey with 788 undergraduate students and follow-up interviews with students and clinical psychologists to understand how people perceived these messages and the factors they anticipated would drive their engagement. We leveraged those insights to revise our messages, after which we deployed our messages via a technology probe to 11 students for two weeks. Through our mixed-methods approach, we highlight challenges and opportunities for future text messaging services, such as the importance of concrete suggestions and flexible pre-scheduled message timing.
... Moreover, constructing narratives about specific, positive memories has been associated with better health and enhanced mood in healthy adults (Burton & King, 2004) and attenuation of PTSD symptoms (Contractor et al., 2020a), particularly when narratives are vivid and coherent (Contractor et al., 2020b). Thus, how both negative and positive experiences are translated into language may influence well-being. ...
Background: Using narratives to reflect on experiences, emotions, and thoughts is associated with better health, enhanced mood, and improved symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prior research examining narrative characteristics thought to reflect cognitive styles associated with PTSD has focused on trauma narratives, but the characteristics of nontrauma narratives in relation to PTSD are not fully understood.
Objective: We reviewed the PTSD literature examining linguistic characteristics of nontrauma narratives, focusing on affective content, personal pronouns, and cognitive processing words.
Method: We searched online databases for both laboratory and social media studies examining these characteristics of nontrauma narratives in relation to PTSD diagnostic status and/or PTSD symptom severity.
Results: Following SWiM guidelines [Campbell et al., 2020. Synthesis without meta-analysis (SWiM) in systematic reviews: Reporting guideline. British Medical Journal, 368, l6890], there was moderate evidence for differential use of emotion words in nontrauma narratives in relation to PTSD symptom cluster severity. More severe avoidance/numbing symptoms were associated with greater use of negative emotion words and less use of positive emotion words. Results were mixed for other linguistic elements reviewed.
Conclusions: Differential use of emotional language in trauma narratives generalises to nontrauma narratives in individuals with PTSD. Additional research is needed to elucidate the use of personal pronouns and cognitive processing words in nontrauma narratives.
... Positive neuropsychologists can develop interventions that help in the maintenance, enhancement, and protection of cognitive abilities rather than just treating the deficits . Burton and King (2004) conducted an assignment with a placebocontrolled design to test the effect of a writing intervention on mood and physical health. For three consecutive days in 20-minute intervals, participants in the intervention condition wrote about intensely positive experiences, and participants in the control group wrote about relatively neutral subjects (e.g., their schedule, their bedroom, and their shoes). ...
... Given the relationships between positive orientation and self-esteem on psychological distress are amplified with the presence of diagnosed psychological disorder, these findings based on positive orientation and self-esteem demonstrate great potentials to the development of interventions that are aimed at reducing psychological distress, particularly in assisting clinical population. According to the meta-analysis conducted by Bolier et al. (2013), positive psychology interventions such as optimism and gratitude exercises (Boehm, 2011), writing about positive experiences (Burton, 2004), thinking about positive life experiences (Lyubomirsky 2006), individual positive psychotherapy (Seligman, 2006) and many other interventions are effective in reducing depressive symptoms and in strengthening individuals' wellbeing. Based on this study's findings, the intervention aims to reduce psychological distress amongst clinical samples should prioritize increasing an individual's positive orientation, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. ...
Both clinical and non-clinical individuals are influenced differently depending on their levels of positive orientation and psychological distress. Firstly, the present study investigated the significant differences between clinical and non-clinical individuals on positive orientation and psychological distress. Secondly, the present study examined the predicting role of positive orientation on psychological distress. Lastly, this study investigated whether the presence or absence of diagnosed psychological disorder moderates the relationship between positive orientation and psychological distress. A total of 323 non-clinical and 290 clinical samples were recruited. Findings showed that there are significant differences between clinical and non-clinical samples in terms of positive orientation and psychological distress. The findings for clinical sample showed that positive orientation, self-esteem, and life satisfaction can significantly predict stress, anxiety, and depression negatively, whereas for the non-clinical samples, results showed that positive orientation and self-esteem can significantly predict stress, anxiety, and depression negatively. Moderation analysis indicated that the relationship between positive orientation and stress, and the relationship between self-esteem to anxiety, depression, and stress are amplified with the presence of diagnosed psychological disorder. In conclusion, this indicates potential psychological intervention development in utilising positive orientation to assist clients with or without clinical conditions. Preventive measures towards psychological distress were also discussed.
... Countless memoirs from prison attest to the important role letters play in offering hope and battling feelings of isolation (Mandela et al., 2018;Salah-El, 2020). Indeed, expressive writing, of any kind, has been demonstrated to have emotional and physical health benefits (Burton & King, 2004). ...
In the context of prisons research, letter writing serves as a unique way to access prison participants without gaining formal His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) approval and does not place any demands on the time and resources of prison staff in comparison to in-person data collection methods such as interviews. Despite this method becoming increasingly used, especially throughout the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there is not a lot of research on the challenges and risks of letter writing to the researcher. This article examines the emotional and ethical challenges of letter writing as a method of data collection specifically with prisoners, focusing primarily on the challenges and risks the researcher must navigate. While the criminological literature is slowly catching up on the discussion of emotions in prisons research, there remains gaps in newer, or indeed, more innovative methods used in criminology. This article discusses the challenges involved in the time between letters, not knowing if letters have arrived, the distance between the researcher and the researched, ending correspondence and appropriate long-term support. As the article progresses, positionality becomes central to these discussions. As well as highlighting these challenges, the article offers strategies and discussions about managing these challenges for future researchers, such as keeping logs, debriefing with colleagues, and ensuring long-term support for participants is in place before the data collection period.
... Coherence, purpose and importance in goals (Sheldon et al., 2002) Linking our strengths and values to our goals and purposes Visualization of our future best self (Burton & King, 2004) Session 6 ...
The concept of meaning in life is fundamental in well-being research, yet its exploration in applied settings remains limited. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a meaning-focused intervention in the workplace. We implemented a six-week meaning in life intervention that targeted enhancing coherence, purpose, and significance in both personal and professional domains. The participants included 9 workers from the Spanish armed forces who voluntarily participated in the intervention. We utilized a case study design to evaluate the intervention's feasibility and acceptability. Attendance rates were high, with 77.78% of participants expressing overall satisfaction with the intervention. We analyzed pre- and post-intervention data on participants' levels of meaning in life, meaningful work, burnout, engagement, well-being, and depression. Significant changes were observed in 33% of the sample regarding meaning in life and in 22% concerning meaningful work, professional efficacy, and overall well-being. This study demonstrates the feasibility and acceptability of our meaning-focused intervention, suggesting its potential efficacy. Through case series studies, we have highlighted the importance of cultivating meaning in life as an essential skill in today's world, crucial for maintaining robust mental health in the face of adversities.
El concepto de significado en la vida es fundamental en la investigación sobre el bienestar, sin embargo, su exploración en entornos aplicados sigue siendo limitada. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar la viabilidad y aceptabilidad de una intervención centrada en el significado en el lugar de trabajo. Implementamos una intervención de seis semanas centrada en el significado en la vida que se enfocaba en mejorar la coherencia, el propósito y la importancia tanto en los ámbitos personal como profesional. Los participantes fueron 9 miembros de las fuerzas armadas españolas que participaron voluntariamente en la intervención. Utilizamos un diseño de estudio de caso para evaluar la viabilidad y aceptabilidad de la intervención. Las tasas de asistencia fueron altas, con un 77.78% de los participantes expresando satisfacción general con la intervención. Analizamos datos pre y post intervención sobre los niveles de significado en la vida, trabajo significativo, agotamiento, compromiso, bienestar y depresión de los participantes. Se observaron cambios significativos en el 33% de la muestra con respecto al significado en la vida y en el 22% en cuanto al trabajo significativo, la eficacia profesional y el bienestar general. Este estudio demuestra la viabilidad y aceptabilidad de nuestra intervención centrada en el significado, sugiriendo su potencial eficacia. A través de estudios de series de casos, hemos destacado la importancia de cultivar el significado en la vida como una habilidad esencial en el mundo actual, fundamental para mantener una salud mental sólida frente a las adversidades.
... They were encouraged to imagine themselves in the event and to reexperience the thoughts and feelings that occurred during the event. The writing instructions were verbatim for each session and were from a previous protocol named Intensely Positive Experiences writing (IPE; Burton and King, 2004). ...
... Future work should consider combining neutral and positive autobiographical memories, namely by asking participants to recall neutral-positive memories. We anticipate more studies investigating whether, similar to the effects of retrieving positive memories (Burton & King, 2004;Burton & King, 2009;Harris et al., 2010), the retrieval of neutral-positive memories also inhibits the recall of negative memories or increases positive emotions. Such studies may inform strategies for emotional regulation. ...
Background Several studies have shown that the retrieval of positive memories may play a role in emotional regulation. However, it is unclear whether the effects of neutral and positive autobiographical memories differ. There is a need to confirm that genuinely neutral autobiographical memories can be retrieved without bias in response to a prompt to recall neutral memories. Methods In this pilot study, using “home” and “study” as cue words, we investigated whether participants were able to retrieve appropriate autobiographical memories when asked to recall a limited number of neutral or positive memories. Results Although participants were asked to recall neutral autobiographical memories, they tended to recall positive memories. Conclusions Our results support the concept of positive memory bias and suggest that future work should consider combining neutral and positive autobiographical memories, namely by asking participants to recall neutral–positive memories.
... Savoring acts as a predictor of happiness which has also been validated by the research conducted in the past (Koo et al., 2008;Burton & King, 2004;Zhang 2013). ...
Across the globe the nations are trying to explore and identify the strategies which would help in enhancing the positive affect leading to ultimate happiness in each and every stratum of the society specifically among adolescents. Positive Psychological Interventions (PPIs) such as mindfulness, savoring, gratitude, kindness, empathy, meaning, flow exercises etc. are being applied to generate positive feelings and to attain the goal of sustainable happiness and well-being. Savoring is believed to be one such strategy in positive psychology which has shown promising effects in enhancing happiness, positive affect and reducing negative affect. The present study comprising of 300 (N=300) adolescents from the state of Haryana (India) made an attempt to explore relationship between savoring, happiness, positive affect and negative affect. Savoring Beliefs Inventory by Bryant (2003), Oxford Happiness Questionnaire by Hills & Argyle (2002) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule by Watson et al. (1988) were applied to measure the variables. Savoring emerged as a significant correlate and predictor of happiness and positive affect among adolescents
... Miguel-Alvaro et al., 2021). While techniques as the Reexperiencing of Pleasant Memories using Mental imagery (Bryant et al., 2005), Writing about a Peak Positive Experience (Burton & King, 2004) or Sharing Positive Narratives with a Partner (Lambert et al., 2013) have only been tested with university students or community samples, the BMAC has been applied to patients on the schizophrenia spectrum (Johnson et al., 2012;Mote & Kring, 2019), individuals with PTSD (Panagioti et al., 2012), adults with a suicidal crisis or suicidal ideation (Knagg et al., 2022;Pratt et al., 2022), as well as to university students through an online application (Holden et al., 2017). ...
This study aims to develop and test a 3-session version of the Broad-Minded Affec-tive Coping (BMAC) technique and to explore the relationship between implementation (features of the positive memory evoked, satisfaction, and engagement) and outcome. The BMAC was delivered to 31 female university students in three sessions over 7-10 days. Positive and negative affect, and difficulties in regulation of negative and positive emotions were assessed pre-treatment and post-treatment. The intervention resulted in a significant reduction in negative affect and in difficulties in negative emotion regulation. No significant effects were found on positive affect or on difficulties in positive emotion regulation. Moreover, the memories chosen were found to be highly central, and patient and therapist levels of satisfaction and engagement in the technique were very high throughout the three sessions. No significant relationships were found between implementation and outcome. This leads to the conclusion that the technique may be suitable for inclusion in broader treatment packages.
... Is writing about positive events equally effective? Burton and King (2004) found that visiting health centers for medical complaints reduced considerably over time among individuals who wrote about positive experiences. However, Lyubomirsky et al., (2006) found that analytical processing/ sense-making of positive events can have a deleterious impact on one's physical health and well-being. ...
Autobiographical memories (AMs) are actively reconstructed to ensure self-coherence. The current study examines the content of written AMs of positive and negative life events and investigates its association with health outcomes. In addition, the current study also explores the relationship of event type and gender with affective and cognitive processes. 220 participants wrote about one positive and one negative event and completed questionnaires related to health conditions, perceived health, and psychological well-being. Regression was used to predict health and well-being from affective and cognitive processes in AMs. Results indicated that among men, cognitive processes in AMs of negative events had a significant positive relationship with perceived health, whereas cognitive processes in AMs of positive events had a significant negative relationship with perceived health. Among women, however, the opposite pattern was observed, but was not significant. In terms of the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) analysis of affective and cognitive processing words, more affect words were found in positive rather than negative event descriptions. Women used more affect words than men. No significant differences were observed in cognitive processing words. The study has implications for understanding gender differences in expression as well as health.
... It shows that a detailed description of the event can produce a more vivid image, lead to the maximum emotional arousal of patients, and ultimately reduce their negative emotions (Holmes and Mathews, 2010). Other studies have suggested the expression of positive emotion words and negative emotion words can improve an individual's mental state, but the effectiveness of positive emotions produces more (Burton and King, 2004;Pennebaker and Chung, 2007). The expression of positive experiences shows that patients are experiencing deliberate rumination, which is more likely to facilitate posttraumatic growth (Qu et al., 2022). ...
Objective
This study aimed to assess the applicability and effectiveness of an online format of expressive writing (EW) in reducing psychological distress among the asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in Fangcang Hospitals with a quasi-experiment.
Method
Altogether 244 patients were assigned to the EW group(n=122) and the control group(n=122). Besides the routine psychological intervention (broadcast relaxation training at a fixed time) in Fangcang hospitals, The EW group was engaged in 8-day theme-based adaption EW intervention, whereas the control group received no interventions. All the participants were tested with the Brief Profile of Mood States (BPOMS) and Inpatient Mental Health Preliminary Screening Scale(IMHPS) before and after the intervention. After the intervention, the writing quality and intervention satisfaction of the EW group were evaluated by a self-designed writing quality questionnaire and EW satisfaction questionnaire.
Results
The results indicated that the EW significantly improved in the BPOMS test, whereas the control group showed no significant change. The IMHPS score in the control group was statistically deteriorated than that before intervention, whereas the EW group showed no significant change. The writing quality was highly correlated with the score change of BPMOS. The overall satisfaction of patients with EW was 81.13%.
Conclusion
EW can reduce psychological distress among the asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in Fangcang Hospitals. The higher the quality of writing, the greater the improvement of mood states. As a new form of psychological intervention in Fangcang hospitals with high patient satisfaction, EW has a value of popularization and application.
... We know from previous research, that PWD in healthy populations can reduce health complaints and health care utilisation, and improve mood and life satisfaction [40][41][42]. Most recently, a larger more rigorous three-arm trial of positive, traumatic and control writing tasks in 150 informal carers showed that for some carers, writing about positive experiences led to decreased anxiety and depression for up to 6-months [43]. ...
Background
Older adult carers of people who experience psychosis are at increased risk of developing physical and mental health problems due to the compounding factors of supporting their care-recipient and the health changes associated with ageing. Effective interventions exist but can be difficult to access and maintain prolonged engagement. Self-directed writing therapies, frequently referred to as Written Emotional Disclosure (WED), might be a suitable alternative intervention to improve the wellbeing of carers.
Methods
This study aimed to determine the feasibility (recruitment, retention and primary outcome completion) and acceptability of a specific WED intervention known as Positive Written Disclosure (PWD). Informal carers of people with psychosis were randomised to PWD, neutral writing or no writing. Quantitative outcomes including positive and negative affect, carer wellbeing, quality of life, depression, anxiety, stress, self-efficacy, leisure time satisfaction as well as health care utilisation were collected at baseline, 1-, 3-, and 6-month assessments. Qualitative feedback was also collected via questionnaire and semi-structured interviews from those randomised to either writing group.
Results
We successfully met our progression criteria, recruiting to target and within timeframes whilst attaining 97% retention and 84% primary outcome data completed at 6 months. Carers randomised to the positive writing group described the intervention as enabling them to have a more positive attitude and focus on activities for themselves. Both writing groups described their tasks as providing distraction from caring responsibilities. However, some carers found the narrow positive emotion focus challenging.
Conclusions
PWD is a feasible and acceptable intervention for older adult carers of people with psychosis within a community setting. Further refinement of the writing protocol to include choice in type of emotion disclosed in addition to screening for some level of need may be required in future trials to reduce floor/ceiling effects of outcomes which may explain the lack of change observed.
... For instance, in a longitudinal couples study, participants who were involved in more frequent and intensive interviews across the study period reported feeling more competent as spouses (Veroff et al., 1992). Participants also reported more benevolent attributions for their partners' negative behaviours after completing measures of commitment, satisfaction or simply factual information about the relationship (Burton & King, 2004). Moreover, when couples were explicitly asked about their involvement in a study, most indicated that they experienced positive effects (Bradbury, 1994;Rubin & Mitchell, 1976). ...
Spatial proximity may be an artifact of relationships research methodology; however, little work has explored how this feature of research designs influences perceptions of one’s relationship, particularly shared reality (i.e., experiencing a commonality of inner states). The present research tested whether spatial proximity would independently contribute to shared reality in couples’ daily lives. In 2 daily diary studies, each across 3–4 weeks (N 1 = 76 couples, 3694 observations; N 2 = 84 couples, 3073 observations), participants indicated whether or not their partner was spatially proximal, and also completed measures of shared reality and relationship satisfaction. Spatial proximity to one’s partner resulted in higher shared reality on the day of the survey completion and predicted increases in shared reality from the previous day, but this effect did not spillover into the following day. These findings held controlling for conflict, shared daily experiences (e.g., cooking together), and shared survey experiences (i.e., whether they completed the survey at the same time). In addition, this effect was unique to shared reality, whereby spatial proximity did not predict relationship satisfaction. However, shared reality was associated with increases in relationship satisfaction across the daily diary period. Thus, researchers should consider spatial proximity when developing their research design as it may influence shared reality, which has implications for relationship well-being.
... This method has shown positive results on people's health and psychology on multiple levels, such as in cognitive, emotional, social, and biological aspects (Pennebaker, 2004). For example, expressive writing is efficacious for people's health, and they have fewer visits to health centers in the subsequent months after the writing intervention (Pennebaker and Beall, 1986;Burton and King, 2004). Concerning psychological outcomes, expressive writing is beneficial for reducing anxiety (Sexton et al., 2009;Pennebaker and Chung, 2014), mediating symptoms of depression (Gortner et al., 2006), relieving post-traumatic stress (Pavlacic et al., 2019), among other benefits. ...
This study offers a systematic review of global academic publications of studies on expressive writing in psychology to date. By using two visualization tools VOSviewer and CiteSpace, we analyzed 1,429 articles on expressive writing from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database. This study might be the first attempt at providing a visualized analysis of the existing expressive writing research. It discusses the results from the following three aspects: (1) the descriptive analysis of general results based on publications, (2) the content analysis based on highly cited articles and keyword analysis, (3) the thematic evolution based on co-word analysis and bursts detection. It is found that the application of expressive writing to minority ethnic groups might be one of the future research interests. The study proposes the necessity of conducting research in the context of positive psychology, argues for a combined use of creative and expressive writing in future studies, and suggests the potential of second/foreign language expressive writing research. The study can be used to enhance researchers’ understanding of expressive writing research and provide insights into future research opportunities in this area.
... Another reason was to support contact with positive aspects in life and inducing positive emotions following positive psychological writing approaches. [55][56][57][58] Writing tasks include writings on the personal life story and benefit finding writing. The intervention consists of seven core elements: psychoeducation, exemplary people with diabetes, ACTbased exercises, for example, mindfulness exercises, diaries to document their progress, a therapeutic writing intervention, feedback from e-coaches (trained psychologist) and optional SMS coaching. ...
Introduction
Living with diabetes can be burdensome and lead to serious emotional distress and impaired mental health. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can support people facing the challenges of living with diabetes. This trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the internet-based and mobile-based intervention (IMI) ‘ACTonDiabetes’ in reducing diabetes distress against enhanced treatment as usual (TAU+) following specialised diabetes care.
Methods and analysis
A two-armed pragmatic randomised controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the guided IMI ACTonDiabetes against TAU+. A total of 210 adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and elevated diabetes distress (Problem Areas in Diabetes ≥40) will be recruited at a specialised diabetes centre. The intervention begins 2–4 weeks after hospital discharge and takes about 7–10 weeks to complete. Assessments are performed at baseline and 5 and 10 weeks as well as 6 and 12 months after randomisation. The primary outcome is diabetes distress at a 10-week follow-up (T2). Secondary outcomes are depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-8), psychological well-being (WHO-5), quality of life (Assessment of Quality of Life-8 Dimension), Diabetes-related Self-Management Questionnaire, diabetes acceptance (Acceptance and Action Diabetes Questionnaire) and negative treatment effects (Inventory for the Assessment of Negative Effects of Psychotherapy). All statistical analyses will be performed based on the intention-to-treat principle with additional per-protocol analyses. Changes in outcomes will be evaluated using the general linear model. A health-economic evaluation will be conducted from a societal perspective. Reasons for drop-out will be systematically investigated.
Ethics and dissemination
This clinical trial has been approved by the State Medical Chamber of Baden-Württemberg (file no. B-F-2019-010). Trial results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at conferences.
Trial registration number
DRKS00016738.
... Given the extensive evidence of PPIs for increasing well-being and positive emotions (Sin and Lyubomirsky 2009), we recommend that school districts invest in training principal supervisors on positive interventions like those provided in this article. We suggest that these interventions be paired with general training on self-care, workplace stress, and burnout to layer positive interventions against the broader Positive writing and gratitude exercises Burton and King (2004), sheldon and lyubomirsky (2006) Writing about an intensely positive experience: Think and write about an intensely positive experience in your life such as being in love, being in nature, or achieving an important personal goal. after describing the event, write about the feelings and emotions you feel when you were present in that time. ...
Principals are pivotal for creating schools that meet the needs of all students. However, the exodus of principals has been on the rise especially in the last two years as the pandemic accelerated turnover rates. Principals are experiencing greater levels of workload, stress, and burnout often without the tools for maintaining mental health. While many strategies for self-care are widely discussed—consistent exercise routine, eating healthy, and adequate sleep—many are not easily adaptable for principals who often experience time constraints and inconsistent schedules. The field of positive psychology has shown that interventions focused on human strengths and enhancing positive emotions can significantly boost well-being. The most promising aspect of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) is the ease with which these strategies can be integrated into the busy demands of the principalship. This article provides evidence for PPIs as potential strategies to emotionally and mentally support principals from individual and organizational approaches. Specifically, this article describes several PPI recommendations for principals to practice and begin building upon positive experiences in their daily lives such as savoring and cultivating sacred moments. The article also provides recommendations for school districts to consider such as cognitive-behavioral, solution-focused coaching; positive principal supervisor interventions; and systematic spaces to address principals’ complaints. While these recommendations are not comprehensive, we believe they serve as a starting point for principals to move beyond surviving and toward thriving in their careers.
... Alternatively, studies began exploring not only the difficulties generated by traumatic experiences but also the perceived benefits of those experiences (King and Miner, 2000). The positive writing (PW) paradigm further developed the notion that writing can be helpful to participants by focusing on intensely positive experiences (Burton and King, 2004), gratitude (Booker and Dunsmore, 2017), and strengths and competencies (Dolev-Amit et al., 2020), which showed a significant impact on participants' wellbeing. In this paradigm, influenced by the positive psychology approach (Seligman, 2002), the awareness of the strengths and expression of positive emotions may lead participants to explore those aspects of themselves (Dolev-Amit et al., 2020). ...
Background
There are a plethora of studies on expressive writing and positive writing interventions, but few have addressed the combination of both paradigms. Additionally, research on the role of ambivalence toward change in the context of writing-based interventions is lacking. Ambivalence toward change is a natural movement of approaching and avoiding change that may occur in various situations. In psychotherapy, its resolution is associated with successful outcomes.
Aim
This study tested the efficacy of a combination of expressive and positive writing paradigms in an internet-based intervention to improve university students’ mental health. Additionally, focusing participants on a current, unresolved problem allowed us to explore the possible role of ambivalence toward change as a mediator of the intervention’s results.
Methods
We recruited 172 participants who were randomly divided into experimental (n = 85) and control (n = 87) groups. The intervention consisted of the identification of a current problem and four writing tasks on consecutive days. Assessment was conducted at baseline and posttest in both groups and at follow-up in the experimental group. Participants in the experimental condition were also assessed after each task. Measures of anxiety, depression, rumination, ambivalence toward change, distress, and wellbeing (optimism, affect, and satisfaction with life) were collected.
Results
Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that participants in the experimental group had a significant decrease from baseline to posttest in ambivalence toward change and rumination when compared with the control group. These results were maintained at follow-up. No differences were found in the remaining measures. Within the experimental group, ambivalence toward change, rumination, and distress significantly decreased throughout the intervention and the exploratory mediation analysis indicated that ambivalence toward change partially mediated the improvements in rumination and distress.
Discussion
Considering different perspectives about a current problem and using a combination of expressive and positive writing fostered the reduction of ambivalence toward change and rumination. Ambivalence toward change reduction after the second writing task may have created optimal conditions for the subsequent decrease in rumination and distress. Future studies should replicate this finding and dismantle the components that are more adequate in changing these variables.
... Some researchers have resisted the notion that, to be beneficial, expressive writing must focus on negative experiences. Among college students, studies considering the effect of expressive writing on positive topics have shown it to be associated with fewer visits to the student health center, greater subjective well-being, and increased positive affect (Burton & King, 2004;King, 2001;King & Miner, 2000). ...
Recovery from substance use disorders can be an arduous, lengthy process, yet there exist few interventions specifically designed to make recovery more reinforcing. This single-group mixed-methods study describes the development, feasibility, acceptability, and impact of a novel journaling intervention that combines aspects of positive psychology and behavioral activation to make recovery more reinforcing. We taught the journaling to women in residential treatment for substance use disorders during eight group sessions, after which participants journaled independently for 2 weeks. The journaling practice was found to be feasible and acceptable. Quantitative data showed improvement in a range of well-being, recovery, and mental health–related factors. Qualitative data showed that the intervention helped participants to recognize what was positive about recovery, to achieve meaningful short-term goals, and to experience a sense of optimism and pride in their accomplishments.
We investigate why individuals commonly perceive time as passing quickly when reflecting on past periods of their lives. A traditional cognitive account proposes that routine experienced during a period decreases the number of memorable events, making that period appear short in retrospect. A motivational account derived from self-determination theory proposes that a period remembered as lacking self-determined growth feels unsatisfying or wasted, and thus seems to pass quickly. Two exploratory studies ( N = 999) did not consistently support these accounts, although in Study 2 remembered routine predicted faster perceived pace, as hypothesized. Contrary to our motivational account, remembered growth positively, rather than negatively, predicted pace. Interpreting this unexpected finding, we conducted two pre-registered studies ( N = 965) exploring how satisfaction with, and nostalgic longing for, periods of growth contribute to the perception of time passing quickly. Our findings have implications for encouraging productive responses to the subjective pace of life.
Meaning‐based interventions have demonstrated promising outcomes in enhancing meaning in life. However, understanding their efficacy in diverse contexts requires further research. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a meaning‐based intervention in a military sample and the impact of incorporating an additional emotion regulation module into the intervention. We conducted a randomized three‐group parallel trial with active‐duty military personnel: a waitlist control group ( n = 21), a meaning‐based intervention group ( n = 42), and a meaning‐based intervention with emotion regulation group ( n = 43). Both intervention groups received six 2‐hour sessions and a follow‐up session 4 months later. Meaning in life and work‐related variables, as well as well‐being, depression, emotion regulation, and work‐related factors, were assessed using a mixed‐factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that only the meaning‐based intervention with an emotion regulation component significantly increased the presence of meaning in life. We also observed a trend toward improved well‐being scores over time that did not emerge for the other intervention. This study provides initial support for the efficacy of meaning‐based interventions within the military context when supplemented with emotion regulation skills.
Background Several studies have shown that the retrieval of positive memories may play a role in emotional regulation. However, it is unclear whether the effects of neutral and positive autobiographical memories differ. It is necessary to confirm whether genuinely neutral autobiographical memories can be retrieved without bias when prompted to recall neutral memories. Methods In this pilot study, using “home” and “study” as cue words, we investigated whether participants were able to retrieve appropriate autobiographical memories when asked to recall a limited number of neutral or positive memories. Results Although participants were asked to recall neutral autobiographical memories, they tended to recall positive memories. Conclusions Our results support the concept of positive memory bias and suggest that future work should consider combining neutral and positive autobiographical memories by asking participants to recall neutral–positive memories.
Excessive sugar intake poses a significant risk factor for non-communicable diseases. A positive healthy eating (PHE) intervention was developed to promote low-sugar dietary practices in families. The PHE intervention capitalized on positive psychological constructs to overcome barriers to health behavior change by helping families associate feelings of joy, gratitude, and savoring with healthy eating. In a cluster randomized controlled trial, 1983 participants from 1467 families were recruited in Hong Kong. PHE included a core and booster session. Data were collected at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at 1-month and 3-month follow-up. Compared to the control, PHE showed greater increase in intention to change at post-intervention, engagement in low-sugar dietary practices individually and with family members at 3-month follow-up, and greater reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage intake at 1-month and 3-month follow-up. Intentions to change mediated PHE’s effects on low-sugar dietary practices. Focus group interviews revealed the behavior-change process and family quality of life.
Background
Written emotional disclosure (WED) is a creative writing intervention that allows a person to confront emotions and traumatic experiences, which has been shown to produce well‐being benefits and could be used to support healthcare workers (HCWs). Written emotional disclosure is usually delivered as a written intervention, and despite some research exploring the effects of other forms of typing interventions using emotional expression, expressive writing and structured writing, the efficacy of WED as a typing‐based intervention is yet to be examined.
Aim
The aim of this mixed method feasibility study was to address whether a writing or typing WED intervention would reduce HCW's mental health symptoms. Additionally, to address whether the WED intervention groups were acceptable to HCW as a supportive intervention.
Findings
Fifty‐five participants (seven males) aged between 22 and 60 took part in this study. The results demonstrate that both the writing and typing WED intervention groups significantly reduce mental health symptoms. Most participants (96.4%) deemed both the WED intervention groups acceptable.
Conclusion
Therefore, WED interventions could potentially be integrated into existing counselling and therapeutic interventions to support HCW and could be implemented within the existing debrief and clinical supervision frameworks.
Dışavurumcu yazmanın (DY) psikolojik işlev üzerindeki etkisini inceleyen çalışmalar, duyguların yazı ile açılmasının zihinsel ve fiziksel sağlığa fayda sağlayabileceğini göstermiştir. Araştırmada, dışavurumcu yazma uygulamasında katılımcıların olumlu duygulara yönlendirilmesinin veya yönlendirilmemesinin katılımcıların edindiği fayda ile ilişkili olup olmadığı incelenmiştir. Araştırmaya gönüllü olan katılımcılar, seçkisiz atama yöntemi ile yönlendirilmemiş (duygu odağı belirtilmeyen) ve yönlendirilmiş (olumlu duygu odaklı) iki müdahale grubuna atanmıştır. Katılımcılar, birer hafta aralıklarla üç dışavurumcu yazma uygulamasını tamamlamış, aynı zamanda her bir uygulama seansında yazma deneyimlerini ve psikolojik streslerini ölçen araçları cevaplamıştır. Çalışmaya 86 lisans öğrencisi gönüllü olsa da çoğunluğu kadınlardan oluşan (kadın = 60, erkek = 6) 68 katılımcı (Myaş = 20.38; SS = 1.67) çalışmayı tamamlamıştır. Çalışma hipotezlerinin test edilmesinde büyüme eğrisi modeli (growth curve modelling) kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın sonuçları, yönlendirilmiş ve yönlendirilmemiş gruplar arasında başlangıçta bir fark olmadığını gösterirken uygulama sonucunda yönlendirilmiş grup katılımcılarının psikolojik stres puanlarında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı derecede azalma olduğu görülmüştür. Ek olarak yazma deneyiminin her iki grupta da psikolojik stres ile ters orantılı olduğu gözlenmiştir: Yazma deneyimi puanlarındaki artışın psikolojik stres puanlarındaki düşüş ile ilişkili olduğu gözlenmiştir. Özellikle, yönlendirilmiş olumlu duygu odaklı dışavurumcu yazma uygulamalarının önemli bir müdahale aracı olabileceği gözlenmektedir.
Despite the benefits of eating insects (entomophagy), Western society is often inclined to reject this practice based on initial reactions of disgust. It is suggested there is potential to overcome this attitude through increasing interest and gaining knowledge of the benefits. One way to accomplish this is through an adapted utility-value intervention, traditionally applied in education research, to increase interest and perceived value in a topic. Across two studies (each with a one-month follow-up) participants researched and wrote an essay designed to increase interest and value in entomophagy or a control essay. Participants then completed a rating task assessing their willingness to try insect and familiar foods, along with other key attributes (e.g., sustainability). The utility-value intervention increased willingness to try insect foods as well as other key attributes compared to a non-insect control essay (Study 1). Unexpectedly, we also found a potentially similar (but smaller) effect of researching an insect-based recipe (Study 2) on willingness to try. The effects found in both studies were consistent at follow-up. These findings indicate the usefulness of utility-value interventions in encouraging entomophagy but also suggest that exposure to information about insect food, although less effective than a utility-value intervention, may also be sufficient.
Positive expressive writing is a therapeutic technique that involves identifying, reflecting upon and writing expressively about positive aspects in life. This discussion piece provides a summary of the expressive writing paradigm and research findings on positive writing. In addition, it considers the possible mechanisms underpinning the link between positivity, written emotional expression and improved health and wellbeing. The importance of developing widely accessible, cost-effective and easily administered interventions for the general population are discussed. Further, this piece argues that research on who these interventions work for, how they should be delivered, and the aspects of health they influence, is warranted.
Club Itaca è un servizio offerto da Progetto Itaca Onlus, basato sul modello di Clubhouse International, di riabilitazione psicosociale psichiatrica per persone affette da disturbi di salute mentale Progetto Itaca e Atstrat hanno sviluppato "Storie di Rinascita", una metodologia di intervento volta ad aiutare le persone affette da disturbi della Salute Mentale ad acquisire consapevolezza e ad accettare la propria condizione, progredendo nel percorso di recovery attraverso la scrittura espressiva strutturata in tre atti: "come ero" (passato); "come sono" (presente); "cosa mi ha aiutato a cambiare" (fattori di rinascita). Scopo. L'obiettivo del presente studio è quello di indagare l'espressione emotiva delle narrative di Storie di Rinascita e di individuare gli elementi di rinascita riferiti dalle persone affette da disturbi della Salute Mentale. Metodi. 62 narrative sono state analizzate utilizzando la Sentiment Analysis e la Topic Analysis. Risultati. L'analisi del sentiment evidenzia una media dell'intensità delle parole polarizzate negativamente più elevata nel passato (µ = 1.71 ± 1.28) rispetto al presente (µ = 1.56 ± 0.93); si nota invece un aumento dell'intensità globale positiva da passato (µ = 1.29 ± 0.71) a presente (µ = 1.34 ± 0.80). Rispetto alle emozioni, le parole relative a rabbia, disgusto, paura e tristezza risultano meno intense nel presente (rispettivamente µ = 1.63 ± 1.06; µ = 1.40 ± 0.49; µ = 1.53 ± 0.94; µ = 1.76 ± 1.25), rispetto al passato (rispettivamente µ = 1.31 ± 0.63; µ = 1.12 ± 0.32; µ = 1.42 ± 0.63; µ = 1.47 ± 0.79). La media dell'intensità di gioia, sorpresa e fiducia è invece simile nelle due tipologie di narrazioni. L'Analisi dei Topic ha permesso di individuare i seguenti tre topic relativi ai fattori di rinascita: 1) il Club Itaca, 2) la Rete Sociale e 3) i Fattori Personali. Discussione e conclusione. L'utilizzo di un linguaggio emotivo meno negativo e più positivo quando si riferiscono al presente rispetto a quando parlano del loro passato permette di ipotizzare un miglioramento nella condizione delle persone affette da disturbi della Salute Mentale e una elaborazione positiva delle esperienze difficoltose sperimentate nel passato. Tali cambiamenti sembrano essere favoriti da Club Itaca, dal supporto della rete sociale e dalle proprie capacità personali. Storie di Rinascita risulta un utile strumento per favorire una rielaborazione della condizione di malattia e far prendere coscienza alle persone dei propri progressi.
When setting out to reach our developmental goals in various life domains (e.g. physical, cognitive, emotional, social, personality), we need theory and evidence-based interventions to guide us on our journey of personal growth. This chapter aims to explore what type of interventions can be effective in fostering development in middle and older age and how to design these. In this sense, it describes some models that can provide a good theoretical frame for developmental interventions. Additionally, the chapter proposes several positive psychology strategies that can be used to stimulate development across midlife and old age. The first part of the chapter focuses on how to use theoretical models from developmental and positive psychology to formulate intervention aims and identify suitable change strategies. The second part of the chapter deals with how to apply positive psychology principles to design developmental interventions for middle-aged and older individuals. In this context, the chapter includes some examples to provide guidance for designing interventions that target positive development in midlife and older age.
Background:
Expressive writing is a promising tool to heal the wounds with words.
Aims:
This meta-analysis evaluated the current state of efficacy of expressive writing on depression, anxiety and stress symptoms among healthy and subclinical samples.
Materials and methods:
Thirty-one experimental studies (N = 4012) with randomized controlled trials and follow-up assessments were analysed.
Results:
Results showed that expressive writing had an overall small but significant effect (Hedges' g = -0.12, 95% CI [-0.21, -0.04]) on reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Change score analyses suggested that the intervention effect emerged after a delay, as evidenced by assessments at follow-up periods. Moderator analyses indicated that the effect sizes varied as a function of one intervention feature: interval. Studies that implemented short intervals (1-3 days) between writing sessions yielded stronger effects (G diff = -0.18, p = .01) relative to studies that implemented medium intervals (4-7 days) or long intervals (>7 days). The effects of expressive writing remained consistent across other intervention features including focus, instruction, number of sessions, topic repetition and delivery mode.
Discussion:
Together, these findings provide evidence for the delayed, durable effect of expressive writing and underscore the importance of scheduling writing sessions at short intervals.
Conclusion:
Implications for incorporating expressive writing into clinical practice and daily life are discussed.
This chapter explores the development of the “best-loved self” of two teacher educators who reflect on their life and career experiences that led them to challenge the norms and become advocates in their fields. The two teacher educators, the authors of their chapter, advocate for aspects of teaching that they believe are marginalized. The two fields, i.e., middle school/high school teacher-student relationships and teaching English language learners have much literature to support their importance, however, educational practices and policies impact their implementation in schools today. One’s best-loved self is not just a moment in time, but an ever-evolving relationship between the self and the world. Thus, the authors reflect on their life experiences that generated their best-loved self and advocate for preservice teachers, current teachers, and teacher educators to analyze their life experiences to determine the “why” behind their “best-loved self.” The authors suggest that there are benefits to doing so, such as the resolve behind one’s “best-loved self” being stronger, decreased stress, and improved happiness less wavering. The authors also offer recommendations for writing a best-loved self-story.KeywordsBest-loved selfTeacher identityTeacher-student relationshipsEnglish language learnersRelational pedagogy
Expressive writing is a blanket term encompassing many specific approaches to writing therapeutically, typically consisting of one or several brief writing sessions that encourage the expression of one's deepest thoughts and feelings about a personally important or stressful experience. Participants who write in this way often show meaningful improvements in a wide variety of physical and mental health outcomes relative to comparison conditions. There is tremendous heterogeneity in response to expressive writing, suggesting that there are important, often unmeasured, moderators. Additionally, there are likely multiple mechanisms of action for expressive writing. As such, expressive writing continues to show potential for clinical utility, but its use must be carefully considered in light of available evidence and with attention to potential individual differences in response.
Positive interventions based on theories in positive psychology have proven effective in contributing to well-being. Although college students frequently use social networking sites, few studies have investigated the use of these sites to facilitate positive interventions. For this research, two positive interventions, photo diaries and the expression of gratitude, were developed and implemented in Facebook using a randomized controlled trial. 136 college students were recruited and randomly assigned them to one of two experimental groups or a control group. Results indicated that photo diary reduced depression during the posttest stage, and these effects continued during the follow up stage. Concerning happiness, the photo diary presented no significant effects in the posttest but did present significant effects in the follow up. Expression of gratitude showed no significant effects on happiness in the posttest but did show significant effects in the follow up. The results of the study demonstrate that social networking sites can be used to implement positive interventions.
Leader identity theory posits that, in addition to being positional, leadership is also a malleable state of mind. This means that even employees holding positions of authority within their organization may be nudged to identify more strongly with their leader role on some days versus others. The leadership literature, however, is silent about predictors that may prime leader identity day-to-day. We draw from leader identity theory and research on expressive writing to propose that leader identity can be activated daily via positive leader self-reflection (e.g., reflecting and writing about qualities that make one a good leader) in ways that are beneficial for the leader both at work and at home. We tested our theoretical expectations in two field experiments. In the first study, as expected, we find that leaders reported higher activated leader identity and more goal progress on intervention (vs. control) days. In turn, activated leader identity and goal progress enhanced leader well-being measured in the evening at home. Surprisingly, and contrary to expectations, the well-being enhancing effects of positive leader self-reflection were weaker for leaders who were higher (vs. lower) in identity fusion with their followers. In the second study, we demonstrate the malleable nature of leader identity by showing not only that positive leader self-reflection activates leader identity, but also that negative leader self-reflection diminishes its activation.
The words people use in disclosing a trauma were hypothesized to predict improvements in mental and physical health in 2 studies. The first study reanalyzed data from 6 previous experiments in which language variables served as predictors of health. Results from 177 participants in previous writing studies showed that increased use of words associated with insightful and causal thinking was linked to improved physical but not mental health. Higher use of positive relative to negative emotion words was also associated with better health. An empirical measure that was derived from these data correlated with subsequent distress ratings. The second study tested these models on interview transcripts of 30 men who had lost their partners to AIDS. Cognitive change and empirical models predicted postbereavement distress at 1 year. Implications of using computer-based text analyses in the study of narratives are discussed.
Healthy Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) seropositive undergraduates (N = 57) completed a personality inventory, provided blood samples, and were randomly assigned to write or talk about stressful events, or to write about trivial events, during three weekly 20-min sessions, after which they provided a final blood sample. Individuals assigned to the verbal/stressful condition had significantly lower EBV antibody titers (suggesting better cellular immune control over the latent virus) after the intervention than those in the written/stressful group, who had significantly lower values than those in the written/trivial control group. Subjects assigned to the written/stressful condition expressed more negative emotional words than the verbal/stressful and control groups and more positive emotional words than the verbal/stressful group at each time point. The verbal/stressful group expressed more negative emotional words compared with the control group at baseline. Content analysis indicated that the verbal/stressful group achieved the greatest improvements in cognitive change, self-esteem, and adaptive coping strategies.
Can psychotherapy reduce the incidence of health problems? A general model of psychosomatics assumes that inhibiting or holding back one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors is associated with long-term stress and disease. Actively confronting upsetting experiences—through writing or talking—is hypothesized to reduce the negative effects of inhibition. Fifty healthy undergraduates were assigned to write about either traumatic experiences or superficial topics for 4 consecutive days. Two measures of cellular immune-system function and health center visits suggested that confronting traumatic experiences was physically beneficial. The implications for psychotherapy as a preventive treatment for health problems are discussed.
A theory of inhibition and psychosomatic disease suggests that the failure to confide traumatic events is stressful and associated with long-term health problems. We investigated the short-term autonomic correlates of disclosing personal and traumatic experiences among two samples of healthy undergraduates. In Experiment 1, subjects talked into a tape recorder about extremely stressful events that had occurred in their lives, as well as what they planned to do following the experiment. Skin conductance, blood pressure, and heart rate were continuously measured. Based on judges' ratings of subjects' depth of disclosure, subjects were classified as high or low disclosers. Talking about traumatic events was associated with decreased behavioral inhibition, as measured by lower skin conductance levels among high disclosers. Disclosing traumatic material was also associated with increased cardiovascular activity. In Experiment 2, subjects both talked aloud and thought about a traumatic event and about plans for the day. Half of the subjects were alone in an experimental cubicle and talked into a tape recorder; the remaining subjects talked to a silent “confessor” who sat behind a curtain. Among high disclosers, both talking and thinking about traumatic events produced lower skin conductance levels than did thinking or talking about plans for the day. The presence of a confessor inhibited subjects' talking. Implications for understanding the nature of confession and the development of an inhibitory model for psychosomatic processes are discussed.
Handwritten autobiographies from 180 Catholic nuns, composed when participants were a mean age of 22 years, were scored for emotional content and related to survival during ages 75 to 95. A strong inverse association was found between positive emotional content in these writings and risk of mortality in late life (p < .001). As the quartile ranking of positive emotion in early life increased, there was a stepwise decrease in risk of mortality resulting in a 2.5-fold difference between the lowest and highest quartiles. Positive emotional content in early-life autobiographies was strongly associated with longevity 6 decades later. Underlying mechanisms of balanced emotional states are discussed.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In a variation on Pennebaker's writing paradigm, a sample of 81 undergraduates wrote about one of four topics for 20 minutes each day for 4 consecutive days. Participants were randomly assigned to write about their most traumatic life event, their best possible future self, both of these topics, or a nonemotional con- trol topic. Mood was measured before and after writing and health center data for illness were obtained with participant con- sent. Three weeks later, measures of subjective well-being were obtained. Writing about life goals was significantly less upset- ting than writing about trauma and was associated with a sig- nificant increase in subjective well-being. Five months after writ- ing, a significant interaction emerged such that writing about trauma, one's best possible self, or both were associated with decreased illness compared with controls. Results indicate that writing about self-regulatory topics can be associated with the same health benefits as writing about trauma.
Research by Pennebaker and his colleagues supports the healing power of writing about traumatic events. This study explored the importance of writing about the perceived benefits of traumatic events as a factor in this process. The study included 118 participants who were randomly assigned to write about one of four topics in a 2 (writing about perceived benefits vs. not writing about perceived benefits)×2 (writing about trauma vs. not writing about trauma) factorial design. Participants also completed questionnaire measures of subjective well-being and released health center information for the year. Participants who wrote only about trauma or perceived benefits showed significantly fewer health center visits for illness 3 months after writing. In addition, 5 months after writing, the trauma-only and perceived-benefits-only groups maintained a difference from the control group. These results suggest that writing about perceived benefits from traumatic events may provide a less upsetting but effective way to benefit from writing.
This study investigated 3 broad classes of individual-differences variables (job-search motives, competencies, and constraints) as predictors of job-search intensity among 292 unemployed job seekers. Also assessed was the relationship between job-search intensity and reemployment success in a longitudinal context. Results show significant relationships between the predictors employment commitment, financial hardship, job-search self-efficacy, and motivation control and the outcome job-search intensity. Support was not found for a relationship between perceived job-search constraints and job-search intensity. Motivation control was highlighted as the only lagged predictor of job-search intensity over time for those who were continuously unemployed. Job-search intensity predicted Time 2 reemployment status for the sample as a whole, but not reemployment quality for those who found jobs over the study's duration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study investigated whether emotional expression of traumatic experiences influenced the immune response to a hepatitis B vaccination program. Forty medical students who tested negative for hepatitis B antibodies were randomly assigned to write about personal traumatic events or control topics during 4 consecutive daily sessions. The day after completion of the writing, participants were given their first hepatitis B vaccination, with booster injections at 1 and 4 months after the writing. Blood was collected before each vaccination and at a 6-month follow-up. Compared with the control group, participants in the emotional expression group showed significantly higher antibody levels against hepatitis B at the 4 and 6-month follow-up periods. Other immune changes evident immediately after writing were significantly lower numbers of circulating
T helper lymphocytes and basophils in the treatment group. The finding that a writing intervention influences immune response provides further support for a link between emotional disclosure and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Indexes of interrater reliability and agreement are reviewed, and suggestions are made regarding their use in counseling psychology research. The distinction between agreement and reliability is clarified, and the relationships between these indexes and the level of measurement and type of replication are discussed. Indexes of interrater reliability appropriate for use with ordinal and interval scales are considered. The intraclass correlation as a measure of interrater reliability is discussed in terms of the treatment of between-raters variance and the appropriateness of reliability estimates based on composite or individual ratings. The advisability of optimal weighting schemes for calculating composite ratings is also considered. Measures of interrater agreement for ordinal and interval scales are described, as are measures of interrater agreement for data at the nominal level of measurement. (54 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study sought to replicate previous findings that disclosing traumas improves physical health and to compare the effects of revealing previously disclosed versus undisclosed traumas. According to inhibition theory, reporting about undisclosed traumas should produce greater health benefits. Sixty healthy undergraduates wrote about undisclosed traumas, previously disclosed traumas, or trivial events. Contrary to expectations, there were no significant between-groups differences on longer term health utilization and physical symptom measures. However, Ss who disclosed more severe traumas reported fewer physical symptoms in the months following the study, compared with low-severity trauma Ss, and tended to report fewer symptoms than control Ss. Results suggest that health benefits occur when severe traumas are disclosed, regardless of whether previous disclosure has occurred.
Can psychotherapy reduce the incidence of health problems? A general model of psychosomatics assumes that inhibiting or holding back one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors is associated with long-term stress and disease. Actively confronting upsetting experiences--through writing or talk- ing-is hypothesized to reduce the negative effects of inhibition. Fifty healthy undergraduates were assigned to write about either traumatic experiences or superficial topics for 4 consecutive days. Two measures of cellular immune-system function and health center visits suggested that confronting traumatic experiences was physically beneficial. The implications for psychotherapy as a preventive treatment for health problems are discussed. There is little doubt that psychotherapy reduces subjective distress and yields positive behavioral outcomes. In recent years, a small group of researchers has sought to learn whether psychotherapy can also reduce health problems. Two promising reviews have indicated that the use of mental health services is associated with fewer medical visits, fewer days of hospitaliza- tion, and lower overall medical costs. In a summary of 15 stud- ies published between 1965 and 1980, Mumford, Schlesinger, and Glass (1981) found that individuals who underwent psy- chotherapy evidenced a 13% decrease in medical utilization rel- ative to nonpsychotherapy control subjects. Similarly, in a re- view of 13 studies of mental health services that were intro- duced into organizations, Jones and Vischi (1980) found that psychotherapy was associated with a 20% drop in medical utili- zation.
A theory of inhibition and psychosomatic disease suggests that the failure to confide traumatic events is stressful and associated with long-term health problems. We investigated the short-term autonomic correlates of disclosing personal and traumatic experiences among two samples of healthy undergraduates. In Experiment 1, subjects talked into a tape recorder about extremely stressful events that had occurred in their lives, as well as what they planned to do following the experiment. Skin conductance, blood pressure, and heart rate were continuously measured. Based on judges' ratings of subjects' depth of disclosure, subjects were classified as high or low disclosers. Talking about traumatic events was associated with decreased behavioral inhibition, as measured by lower skin conductance levels among high disclosers. Disclosing traumatic material was also associated with increased cardiovascular activity. In Experiment 2, subjects both talked aloud and thought about a traumatic event and about plans for the day. Half of the subjects were alone in an experimental cubicle and talked into a tape recorder; the remaining subjects talked to a silent "confessor" who sat behind a curtain. Among high disclosers, both talking and thinking about traumatic events produced lower skin conductance levels than did thinking or talking about plans for the day. The presence of a confessor inhibited subjects' talking. Implications for understanding the nature of confession and the development of an inhibitory model for psychosomatic processes are discussed.
Examined whether writing about traumatic events would influence long-term measures of health as well as short-term indicators of physiological arousal and reports of negative moods in 46 introductory psychology students. Also examined were aspects of writing about traumatic events (i.e., cognitive, affective, or both) that were most related to physiological and self-report variables. Ss wrote about either personally traumatic life events or trivial topics on 4 consecutive days. In addition to health center records, physiological measures and self-reported moods and physical symptoms were collected throughout the experiment. Findings indicate that, in general, writing about both the emotions and facts surrounding a traumatic event was associated with relatively higher blood pressure and negative moods following the essays, but fewer health center visits in the 6 mo following the experiment. It is concluded that, although findings should be considered preliminary, they bear directly on issues surrounding catharsis, self-disclosure, and a general theory of psychosomatics based on behavioral inhibition. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators.
Healthy Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) seropositive undergraduates (N = 57) completed a personality inventory, provided blood samples, and were randomly assigned to write or talk about stressful events, or to write about trivial events, during three weekly 20-min sessions, after which they provided a final blood sample. Individuals assigned to the verbal/stressful condition had significantly lower EBV antibody titers (suggesting better cellular immune control over the latent virus) after the intervention than those in the written/stressful group, who had significantly lower values than those in the written/trivial control group. Subjects assigned to the written/stressful condition expressed more negative emotional words than the verbal/stressful and control groups and more positive emotional words than the verbal/stressful group at each time point. The verbal/stressful group expressed more negative emotional words compared with the control group at baseline. Content analysis indicated that the verbal/stressful group achieved the greatest improvements in cognitive change, self-esteem, and adaptive coping strategies.
The words people use in disclosing a trauma were hypothesized to predict improvements in mental and physical health in 2 studies. The first study reanalyzed data from 6 previous experiments in which language variables served as predictors of health. Results from 177 participants in previous writing studies showed that increased use of words associated with insightful and causal thinking was linked to improved physical but not mental health. Higher use of positive relative to negative emotion words was also associated with better health. An empirical measure that was derived from these data correlated with subsequent distress ratings. The second study tested these models on interview transcripts of 30 men who had lost their partners to AIDS. Cognitive change and empirical models predicted postbereavement distress at 1 year. Implications of using computer-based text analyses in the study of narratives are discussed.
Laughter facilitates the adaptive response to stress by increasing the psychological distance from distress and by enhancing social relations. To test these hypotheses, the authors related measures of bereaved adults' laughter and smiling 6 months postloss to measures of their (a) subjective emotion and dissociation from distress, (b) social relations, and (c) responses they evoked in others. Duchenne laughter, which involves orbicularis oculi muscle action, related to self-reports of reduced anger and increased enjoyment, the dissociation of distress, better social relations, and positive responses from strangers, whereas non-Duchenne laughter did not. Lending credence to speculations in the ethological literature, Duchenne laughter correlated with different intrapersonal and interpersonal responses than Duchenne smiles. Discussion focuses on the relevance of these findings to theories of positive emotion.
Nonpharmacological treatments with little patient cost or risk are useful supplements to pharmacotherapy in the treatment of patients with chronic illness. Research has demonstrated that writing about emotionally traumatic experiences has a surprisingly beneficial effect on symptom reports, well-being, and health care use in healthy individuals.
To determine if writing about stressful life experiences affects disease status in patients with asthma or rheumatoid arthritis using standardized quantitative outcome measures.
Randomized controlled trial conducted between October 1996 and December 1997.
Outpatient community residents drawn from private and institutional practice.
Volunteer sample of 112 patients with asthma (n = 61) or rheumatoid arthritis (n = 51) received the intervention; 107 completed the study, 58 in the asthma group and 49 in the rheumatoid arthritis group.
Patients were assigned to write either about the most stressful event of their lives (n = 71; 39 asthma, 32 rheumatoid arthritis) or about emotionally neutral topics (n = 41; 22 asthma, 19 rheumatoid arthritis) (the control intervention).
Asthma patients were evaluated with spirometry and rheumatoid arthritis patients were clinically examined by a rheumatologist. Assessments were conducted at baseline and at 2 weeks and 2 months and 4 months after writing and were done blind to experimental condition.
Of evaluable patients 4 months after treatment, asthma patients in the experimental group showed improvements in lung function (the mean percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1] improved from 63.9% at baseline to 76.3% at the 4-month follow-up; P<.001), whereas control group patients showed no change. Rheumatoid arthritis patients in the experimental group showed improvements in overall disease activity (a mean reduction in disease severity from 1.65 to 1.19 [28%] on a scale of 0 [asymptomatic] to 4 [very severe] at the 4-month follow-up; P=.001), whereas control group patients did not change. Combining all completing patients, 33 (47.1%) of 70 experimental patients had clinically relevant improvement, whereas 9 (24.3%) of 37 control patients had improvement (P=.001).
Patients with mild to moderately severe asthma or rheumatoid arthritis who wrote about stressful life experiences had clinically relevant changes in health status at 4 months compared with those in the control group. These gains were beyond those attributable to the standard medical care that all participants were receiving. It remains unknown whether these health improvements will persist beyond 4 months or whether this exercise will prove effective with other diseases.
Can language use reflect personality style? Studies examined the reliability, factor structure, and validity of written language using a word-based, computerized text analysis program. Daily diaries from 15 substance abuse inpatients, daily writing assignments from 35 students, and journal abstracts from 40 social psychologists demonstrated good internal consistency for over 36 language dimensions. Analyses of the best 15 language dimensions from essays by 838 students yielded 4 factors that replicated across written samples from another 381 students. Finally, linguistic profiles from writing samples were compared with Thematic Apperception Test coding, self-reports, and behavioral measures from 79 students and with self-reports of a 5-factor measure and health markers from more than 1,200 students. Despite modest effect sizes, the data suggest that linguistic style is an independent and meaningful way of exploring personality.
Although research on coping over the past 30 years has produced convergent evidence about the functions of coping and the factors that influence it, psychologists still have a great deal to learn about how coping mechanisms affect diverse outcomes. One of the reasons more progress has not been made is the almost exclusive focus on negative outcomes in the stress process. Coping theory and research need to consider positive outcomes as well. The authors focus on one such outcome, positive affect, and review findings about the co-occurrence of positive affect with negative affect during chronic stress, the adaptive functions of positive affect during chronic stress, and a special class of meaning-based coping processes that support positive affect during chronic stress.
Emotional processes influence a wide range of mental and physical systems, which makes them difficult to understand from a single perspective. In this special issue of the Review of General Psychology, contributing authors present 4 articles that draw from several areas within psychology in the service of understanding a topic relevant to emotion. In this overview, the authors argue that the long neglect of the scientific study of complex processes such as emotion might be linked, in part, to the fractionation of the field into specialized subdisciplines. Just as emotions were of central concern in the early years of psychology (which was a generalist's era), as psychology moves toward more integration in the late 20th century broad phenomena such as emotions are once again central interests. The 4 articles of this special issue are briefly reviewed as exemplars of an integrated approach to understanding emotional phenomena.
Previous studies have found that writing about upsetting experiences can improve physical health. In an attempt to explain this phenomenon, 72 first-year college students were randomly assigned to write about either their thoughts and feelings about coming to college or about superficial topics for three consecutive days. Measures of language use within the writing samples and cognitive measures of accessibility and schematic organisation were collected in the weeks before and after writing. As in previous studies, writing about college was found to reduce health centre visits for illness and to improve subjects' grade point average. Text analyses indicated that the use of positive emotion words and changes in words suggestive of causal and insightful thinking were linked to health change. Improved grades, although not linked to these language dimensions, were found to correlate with measures of schematic organisation of college-relevant themes. Implications for using written language to understand cognitive and health processes are discussed.
For the past decade, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that when individuals write about emotional experiences, significant physical and mental health improvements follow. The basic paradigm and findings are summarized along with some boundary conditions. Although a reduction in inhibition may contribute to the disclosure phenomenon, changes in basic cognitive and linguistic processes during writing predict better health. Implications for theory and treatment are discussed.
This chapter on qualitative measures focuses on attempts to capture social psychological phenomena through more open-ended data sources. King addresses issues related to using self-report and nonself-report qualitative measures (e.g., behavioral acts, narratives, interviews), as well as issues relevant to transforming these measures through coding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Recent years have witnessed an upsurge of interest among theorists and researchers in autobiographical recollections, life stories, and narrative approaches to understanding human behavior and experience. An important development in this context is D. P. McAdams's life story model of identity (1985; see also records
1993-97296-000 and
1996-06098-001), which asserts that people living in modern societies provide their lives with unity and purpose by constructing internalized and evolving narratives of the self. The idea that identity is a life story resonates with a number of important themes in developmental, cognitive, personality, and cultural psychology. This article reviews and integrates recent theory and research on life stories as manifested in investigations of self-understanding, autobiographical memory, personality structure and change, and the complex relations between individual lives and cultural modernity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Notes the emergence of "a "transhumanistic psychology' dealing with transcendent experiences and with transcendent values." Transpersonal psychology is described as a "fourth force" in psychology, in contrast to behaviorism and Freudian psychology, and an outgrowth of the "third force," i.e., humanistic psychology, concerned with "real human experience and human needs, goals and values." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article reviews evidence indicating that, in most circumstances, positive affect enhances problem solving and decision making, leading to cognitive processing that is not only flexible, innovative, and creative, but also thorough and efficient. These results have implications regarding consumers’ potential reactions to affect generated by ads, products, consumption situations, and service encounters.
These cognitive effects of positive affect are considered in the context of effects on social interaction that show that positive affect leads to helping, generosity, and interpersonal understanding. Together, these findings suggest implications especially for customer satisfaction, and particularly for a role for employee positive affect, or employee satisfaction, in generating customer satisfaction.
Moreover, studies specifically in the domain of medical decision making and problem solving indicate that these implications would apply to the specific areas of doctor–patient interaction, medical decision making, and medical consumer satisfaction. Finally, it is suggested that the benefits of positive affect be considered when formulating healthcare policy and be included in economic models and policy decisions more generally as well.
A study investigated whether creative problem solving and reported sources of satisfaction from the practice of medicine are
influenced by the induction of positive affect among physicians. Physicians randomly assigned to the positive affect group
received a small package of candy. The control group received no treatment. The affect group scored better on the creativity
measure than did the control group, (p=0.028, one-tailed). Regarding practice satisfaction, all physicians perceived humanism as more important than extrinsic motivation
as a source of satisfaction from the practice of medicine (p<0.001). However, a significant interaction between affect and source of satisfaction revealed that the affect group attributed
more relative importance to humanism and less relative importance to extrinsic motivation compared with the control group
(p=0.04). In contrast, physicians in a third condition, in which they read phrases reflective of the humanistic satisfactions
from medicine, did not differ from the control group in the creativity test or in the practice-satisfaction questionnaire.
We conclude that induction of positive affect among physicians can improve their creative problem solving and can influence
the sources of practice satisfaction they report.
Two studies tested the hypothesis that certain positive emotions speed recovery from the cardiovascular sequelae of negative emotions. In Study 1, 60 subjects (Ss) viewed an initial fear-eliciting film, and were randomly assigned to view a secondary film that elicited: (a) contentment; (b) amusement; (c) neutrality; or (d) sadness. Compared to Ss who viewed the neutral and sad secondary films, those who viewed the positive films exhibited more rapid returns to pre-film levels of cardiovascular activation. In Study 2, 72 Ss viewed a film known to elicit sadness. Fifty Ss spontaneously smiled at least once while viewing this film. Compared to Ss who did not smile, those who smiled exhibited more rapid returns to pre-film levels of cardiovascular activation. We discuss these findings in terms of emotion theory and possible health-promoting functions of positive emotions.
This article opens by noting that positive emotions do not fit existing models of emotions. Consequently, a new model is advanced to describe the form and function of a subset of positive emotions, including joy, interest, contentment, and love. This new model posits that these positive emotions serve to broaden an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire, which in turn has the effect of building that individual's physical, intellectual, and social resources. Empirical evidence to support this broaden-and-build model of positive emotions is reviewed, and implications for emotion regulation and health promotion are discussed.
A research synthesis was conducted to examine the relationship between a written emotional expression task and subsequent health. This writing task was found to lead to significantly improved health outcomes in healthy participants. Health was enhanced in 4 outcome types--reported physical health, psychological well-being, physiological functioning, and general functioning--but health behaviors were not influenced. Writing also increased immediate (pre- to postwriting) distress, which was unrelated to health outcomes. The relation between written emotional expression and health was moderated by a number of variables, including the use of college students as participants, gender, duration of the manipulation, publication status of the study, and specific writing content instructions.
Inhibiting or holding back one's thoughts, feelings, or behaviors is associated with long-term stress and disease. Actively confronting upsetting experiences can reduce the negative effects of inhibition. The present study describes a unique approach to aid individuals in dealing with psychological and emotional issues that they must often face.
Forty-one of the 81 university employees who were participating in a wellness program agreed to participate in the present study. Subjects were randomly assigned to write about either personal traumatic experiences (n = 23) or non-traumatic topics (n = 18) for 20 minutes once a week for four consecutive weeks.
Results indicate that individuals who wrote about upsetting personal experiences evidenced significant drops in selected blood measures compared to those who wrote about non-traumatic topics (e.g., for SGOT: 4.0% drop among traumatic topic group versus 13.1% increase among non-traumatic topic group, ANOVA p = .029; for SGPT: 24.5% drop versus 7.7% increase, p = .001). During the month of writing, traumatic topic group subjects evidenced a 28.6% reduction in absentee rates from work relative to the eight months before the experiment compared with a 48.5% increase in absentee rates among non-traumatic topic subjects (p = .04). Subjects low in emotional inhibition evidenced the greatest reductions in absentee rates following personal disclosure compared to those high in emotional inhibition (p = .011).
The proposed writing strategy offers a unique tool for health promotion practitioners.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Writing about important personal experiences in an emotional way for as little as 15 minutes over the course of three days brings about improvements in mental and physical health. This finding has been replicated across age, gender, culture, social class, and personality type. Using a text-analysis computer program, it was discovered that those who benefit maximally from writing tend to use a high number of positive-emotion words, a moderate amount of negative-emotion words, and increase their use of cognitive words over the days of writing. These findings suggest that the formation of a narrative is critical and is an indicator of good mental and physical health. Ongoing studies suggest that writing serves the function of organizing complex emotional experiences. Implications for these findings for psychotherapy are briefly discussed.
Handwritten autobiographies from 180 Catholic nuns, composed when participants were a mean age of 22 years, were scored for emotional content and related to survival during ages 75 to 95. A strong inverse association was found between positive emotional content in these writings and risk of mortality in late life (p < .001). As the quartile ranking of positive emotion in early life increased, there was a stepwise decrease in risk of mortality resulting in a 2.5-fold difference between the lowest and highest quartiles. Positive emotional content in early-life autobiographies was strongly associated with longevity 6 decades later. Underlying mechanisms of balanced emotional states are discussed.
The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions predicts that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention and cognition, and, by consequence, initiate upward spirals toward increasing emotional well-being. The present study assessed this prediction by testing whether positive affect and broad-minded coping reciprocally and prospectively predict one another. One hundred thirty-eight college students completed self-report measures of affect and coping at two assessment periods 5 weeks apart. As hypothesized, regression analyses showed that initial positive affect, but not negative affect, predicted improved broad-minded coping, and initial broad-minded coping predicted increased positive affect, but not reductions in negative affect. Further mediational analyses showed that positive affect and broad-minded coping serially enhanced one another. These findings provide prospective evidence to support the prediction that positive emotions initiate upward spirals toward enhanced emotional wellbeing. Implications for clinical practice and health promotion are discussed.
As a consequence of the rapid growth of temporary agency employment in Germany, the debate on the remuneration of temporary agency workers has intensified recently. The study finds that the earnings gap of temporary help workers in Germany is indeed large and increased during the past decade. Decomposition reveals that the widening gap mainly is driven by changes in relative skill prices and less by differences in the workforce composition. Temps already have to accept a marked earnings decline before entering the temporary help sector. Nevertheless, after leaving the sector temporary help workers no longer have to accept a pay penalty. A recent reform set a high incentive for temporary help agencies to pay their workers according to a collective agreement. Surprisingly, the unionization of the sector could not bring thewidening earnings gap to a halt.
Effects of expressing negative and positive emotions and insight on health and adjustment to college. Unpublished dissertation
- C F Hughes
Hughes, C. F. (1994). Effects of expressing negative and positive emotions and insight on health and
adjustment to college. Unpublished dissertation. Southern Methodist University.
What makes life worth living? Implications of writing about philosophy of life for health and mood. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology
- J E Eells
Eells, J.E., (2003, February). What makes life worth living? Implications of writing about philosophy of life
for health and mood. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and
Social Psychology, Los Angeles, CA.
(in preparation) Writing as Self Disclosure vs. Self Construction: Implications for Understanding the Benefits of Writing
- L A King
- C M Burton
King, L. A., Burton, C. M. (in preparation). Writing as Self Disclosure vs. Self Construction: Implications for Understanding the Benefits of Writing. University of Missouri, Columbia. MO (Manuscript in preparation).
Lost and Found Possible Selves: The role of what might have been in subjective well-being and personality development. Paper presented at the First Annual Personality Preconference. Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference
- L A King
King, L. A. (2001b). Lost and Found Possible Selves: The role of what might have been in subjective wellbeing and personality development. Paper presented at the First Annual Personality Preconference.
Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference. Nashville, TN.
Writing as Self Disclosure vs. Self Construction: Implications for Understanding the Benefits of Writing
- L A King
- C M Burton
King, L. A., Burton, C. M. (in preparation). Writing as Self Disclosure vs. Self Construction: Implications
for Understanding the Benefits of Writing. University of Missouri, Columbia. MO (Manuscript in
preparation).