Glossary // Glossary term Empirical
Experimental disclosure
The umbrella term for randomised studies in which participants disclose thoughts and feelings about personal, meaningful topics, in writing or aloud, compared with a control task. Expressive writing is its best-known form. A meta-analysis of 146 randomised studies found a positive, significant but small average effect, with effects varying by moderators such as dose and instructions. Writing about difficult experiences has small average benefits across hundreds of randomised studies, with wide variation. This note reviews the meta-analyses, what moderates the effect, and the gap between feeling relieved and benefiting. The works the definition rests on, with the level of evidence each was appraised at. (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.823 Supports the claims that experimental disclosure had a positive and significant but small average effect (r = .075) in random-effects analysis and that a number of moderators were identified. The abstract does not list the moderators, so they are not itemised on the site. (1998). Written emotional expression: Effect sizes, outcome types, and moderating variables. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.66.1.174 Supports the claims that writing was followed by improved reported physical health, psychological well-being, physiological and general functioning but not health behaviours, that it increased immediate distress unrelated to health outcomes, and that several moderators were identified. Fixed-effects synthesis, later criticised as limiting generalisability.Where the site uses it
Studies behind it