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Written Emotional Disclosure (WED) and its effects on lung function: a community based randomised controlled trial of patients with asthma

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posted on 2023-06-08, 22:02 authored by Christina Jones, Helen Smith, Alice Theadom, A Horner, R Bowskill, Matthew Hankins, A Frew
Backgound: Asthma is a chronic condition affecting 300 million people worldwide. Management involves adherence to pharmacological treatments, such as corticosteroids and beta-agonists, but for many individuals residual symptoms persist. As asthma symptoms may be exacerbated by stress, one possible adjunct to pharmacological treatments is Written Emotional Disclosure (WED). WED is structured around the disclosure of traumatic experiences which can facilitate cognitive and emotional processing helping to reduce physiological stress associated with inhibition of emotions. One US study has suggested that WED used in a laboratory setting improved lung function in asthmatic patients. To have wide utility the intervention needs to be effective in an everyday setting without researcher supervision. Methods: 122 adults (aged 18 to 45) with asthma were randomly allocated to receive either WED or non-emotional writing instructions involving writing for 20 minutes over three consecutive days in their homes without supervision. Lung function, quality of life, symptoms, asthma control and medication use were measured at baseline, one- and three-month follow-up. Findings: No significant differences in lung function, quality of life or symptoms were observed. However, at three-month follow-up, participants in the intervention condition reported significantly better asthma control t(109)=2.76, p=.007 and reported using their reliever medication less t(92.71)=-2.74, p=.007. Discussion: WED has the potential to be a cheap and safe adjunct to medication, is easy to implement and may bring benefit to a large number of patients with asthma.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Event name

British Psychological Society, Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference 2009

Event location

Aston University

Event type

conference

Event date

9-11 September 2009

Department affiliated with

  • BSMS Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-08-04

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