Fact · Dictation
In the same randomized trial of adults with rheumatoid arthritis, written disclosure of stressful experiences had minimal effects compared with the combined control groups.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“written disclosure had minimal effects compared to combined controls”
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
- The same trial as the spoken-disclosure result. The written arm compared disclosure writing with positive-event and neutral-event writing, and the combined controls are both of those groups.
- What it does not show
- Writing reduced pain at 1 and 6 months in the trial, but no other outcome improved in the written arm. The result is about health outcomes in people with a chronic illness, not about how useful journaling is for healthy people.