Does Self-Affirmation, Cognitive Processing, or Discovery of Meaning Explain Cancer-Related Health Benefits of Expressive Writing?

• Published in: Personality & social psychology bulletin Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 238 - 250
• Main Authors: Creswell, J. David, Lam, Suman, Stanton, Annette L., Taylor, Shelley E., Bower, Julienne E., Sherman, David K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.02.2007; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adult; Affirmation; Aged; Benefits; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms; Cancer; Cognition; Cognitive processing; Content analysis; Creative writing; Discovery; Effects; Expressed Emotion; Facial expressions; Female; Health; Health Behavior; Health problems; Health status; Humans; Meaning; Middle Aged; Physical symptoms; Psychological mechanisms; Scholarship; Self Concept; Self expression; Selfaffirmation; Semantics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Survivor; Symptoms; Verbal Behavior; Writing; cognitive processing; cancer; expressive writing; self-affirmation; discovery of meaning
• ISSN: 0146-1672; 1552-7433
• DOI: 10.1177/0146167206294412

Although expressive writing has positive effects on health, little is known about the underlying psychological mechanisms for these effects. The present study assessed self-affirmation, cognitive processing, and discovery of meaning as potential mediators of the effects of expressive writing on physical health in early-stage breast cancer survivors. A content analysis of the essays showed that self-affirmation writing was associated with fewer physical symptoms at a 3-month follow-up assessment, with self-affirmation writing fully mediating the effects of the emotional expression and benefit-finding writing conditions on reduced physical symptoms. Cognitive processing and discovery of meaning writing were not associated with any physical health outcomes. Consistent with evidence showing that self-affirmation plays an important role in buffering stress, the present study provides the first evidence for self-affirmation as a viable mechanism underlying the health benefits of expressive writing.