Fact · Dictation
In a randomized trial of adults with rheumatoid arthritis, spoken disclosure of stressful experiences led to faster walking speed at 3 months, and reduced pain, swollen joints and physician-rated disease activity at 6 months.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“Spoken disclosure led to faster walking speed at 3 months, and reduced pain, swollen joints, and physician-rated disease activity at 6 months”
Does Emotional Disclosure About Stress Improve Health in Rheumatoid Arthritis? Randomized, Controlled Trials of Written and Spoken Disclosure, Mark A Lumley et al., Pain, 2011, Abstract.
Open the original (DOI 10.1016/j.pain.2011.01.003)- What it measures
- Adults with rheumatoid arthritis were randomized to write or to speak into a recorder, and within each group to disclosure or one of two control topics (positive or neutral events). Each person completed four 20-minute sessions at home, and outcomes were measured at 1, 3 and 6 months.
- What it does not show
- The effects were limited in scope and consistency, and the authors judged them modest. The study tested people with a chronic illness writing about stressful experiences in a research protocol, not everyday journaling, and it did not measure whether people kept a journal.