Effects of (very) brief writing on health: the two-minute miracle.
This study tested the lower boundary of the dosage required to garner health benefits from written emotional expression. Participants wrote about either a personal trauma, a positive life experience, or a control topic for 2 minutes each day for 2 days. Emotion word usage in the essays was examined and physical health complaints were measured 4-6 weeks after the last writing session. Trauma and positive experience essays contained more emotional content than the control essays and such content was of a similar percentage to that demonstrated by past research. Both the trauma and the positive experience conditions reported fewer health complaints at follow-up than the control condition.
Burton
Chad M
CM
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
King
Laura A
LA
D000339:Affect; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014956:Writing