Physical and Psychological Benefits of Written Emotional Expression: Review of Meta-Analyses and Recommendations

Kállay, Éva

doi:10.1027/1016-9040/a000231

Cited by 19Mental Health via WritingArt Therapy and Mental HealthPsychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

Physical and Psychological Benefits of Written Emotional Expression: Review of Meta-Analyses and Recommendations

Kállay, Éva·2015·European Psychologist

DOI 10.1027/1016-9040/a000231

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Abstract

Abstract. The last several decades have witnessed a substantial increase in the number of individuals suffering from both diagnosable and subsyndromal mental health problems. Consequently, the development of cost-effective treatment methods, accessible to large populations suffering from different forms of mental health problems, became imperative. A very promising intervention is the method of expressive writing (EW), which may be used in both clinically diagnosable cases and subthreshold symptomatology. This method, in which people express their feelings and thoughts related to stressful situations in writing, has been found to improve participants’ long-term psychological, physiological, behavioral, and social functioning. Based on a thorough analysis and synthesis of the published literature (also including most recent meta-analyses), the present paper presents the expressive writing method, its short- and long-term, intra-and interpersonal effects, different situations and conditions in which it has been proven to be effective, the most important mechanisms implied in the process of recovery, advantages, disadvantages, and possible pitfalls of the method, as well as variants of the original technique and future research directions.

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It can be derived from literature that therapeutic writing can be helpful for people; small benefits are consistently reported and the paradigm can be easily provided to a large number of individuals online at low-cost.
“It can be derived from literature, that therapeutic writing can be helpful for people and some researcher highlight the potential of the paradigm: Small benefits are consistently reported and the paradigm can be easily provided to a large number of individuals online at low-cost (Kállay, 2015; Frattaroli, 2006; Nyssen et al., 2016).”
From Feasibility of a Software agent providing a brief Intervention for Self-help to Uplift psychological wellbeing (“SISU”). A single-group pretest-posttest trial investigating the potential of SISU to act as therapeutic agent (2021) · cites this paper as Kállay, 2015

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Background
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Authors: Kállay, É.
Affiliations: Babeș-Bolyai University (RO)
Corresponding author: Kállay, Éva
Venue: European Psychologist
Publisher: Hogrefe Publishing Group
Published: 2015-10
Volume: 20
Issue: 4
Pages: 242-251
ISSN: 1016-9040 (ISSN-L)
1878-531X
DOI: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000231
OpenAlex: W2220590777
Cited by: 19
References: 96
Citations by year: 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 1
FWCI: 1.64
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: European Psychologist (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Conservation › Art Therapy and Mental Health
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
Keywords: expressive writing, mental health, psychological well-being, physiological effects, stress, subthreshold symptoms, recovery mechanisms, interpersonal effects, cost-effective treatment, writing intervention

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Physical and Psychological Benefits of Written Emotional Expression: Review of Meta-Analyses and Recommendations

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