title: Pilot Randomized Study of a Gratitude Journaling Intervention on Heart Rate Variability and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Patients With Stage B Heart Failure.
abstract: Stage B, asymptomatic heart failure (HF) presents a therapeutic window for attenuating disease progression and development of HF symptoms, and improving quality of life. Gratitude, the practice of appreciating positive life features, is highly related to quality of life, leading to development of promising clinical interventions. However, few gratitude studies have investigated objective measures of physical health; most relied on self-report measures. We conducted a pilot study in Stage B HF patients to examine whether gratitude journaling improved biomarkers related to HF prognosis.
  
  
  
  Patients (n = 70; mean [standard deviation] age = 66.2 [7.6] years) were randomized to an 8-week gratitude journaling intervention or treatment as usual. Baseline (T1) assessments included the six-item Gratitude Questionnaire, resting heart rate variability (HRV), and an inflammatory biomarker index. At T2 (midintervention), the six-item Gratitude Questionnaire was measured. At T3 (postintervention), T1 measures were repeated but also included a gratitude journaling task.
  
  
  
  The gratitude intervention was associated with improved trait gratitude scores (F = 6.0, p = .017, η = 0.10), reduced inflammatory biomarker index score over time (F = 9.7, p = .004, η = 0.21), and increased parasympathetic HRV responses during the gratitude journaling task (F = 4.2, p = .036, η = 0.15), compared with treatment as usual. However, there were no resting preintervention to postintervention group differences in HRV (p values > .10).
  
  
  
  Gratitude journaling may improve biomarkers related to HF morbidity, such as reduced inflammation; large-scale studies with active control conditions are needed to confirm these findings.
  
  
  
  Clinicaltrials.govidentifier:NCT01615094.
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Psychiatry (Redwine, Henry, Chinh, Jain, Rutledge), Family Medicine and Public Health (Pung, Wilson, Mills), and Medicine (Knight, Greenberg, Maisel), University of California, San Diego, California.
authors.forename: Laura S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Redwine
authors.forename: Brook L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: Meredith A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pung
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chinh
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Shamini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rutledge
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maisel
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Mills
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D063545:Personal Narratives as Topic; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers