Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis
Frattaroli meta-analysed a hundred and forty-six randomised studies of expressive writing and disclosure, the practice of writing or talking about personal and meaningful experiences. Earlier and smaller reviews had reported positive effects using an analytic approach that limits how far the conclusion generalises; this one uses a method that accounts properly for variation between studies, and includes a much larger body of work. The effect is positive, statistically reliable and small. That combination is the finding worth carrying: disclosure does something, and the something is modest rather than transformative, which is at odds with how the technique is usually described in popular accounts. The analysis also identifies conditions under which effects are larger or smaller, which is where the practical value lies for anyone designing an intervention. This vault cites it as the honest size estimate for expressive writing.
Frattaroli meta-analysed a hundred and forty-six randomised studies of expressive writing and disclosure, the practice of writing or talking about personal and meaningful experiences. Earlier and smaller reviews had reported positive effects using an analytic approach that limits how far the conclusion generalises; this one uses a method that accounts properly for variation between studies, and includes a much larger body of work. The effect is positive, statistically reliable and small. That combination is the finding worth carrying: disclosure does something, and the something is modest rather than transformative, which is at odds with how the technique is usually described in popular accounts. The analysis also identifies conditions under which effects are larger or smaller, which is where the practical value lies for anyone designing an intervention. This vault cites it as the honest size estimate for expressive writing.
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Frattaroli, J. (2006). "Experimental disclosure and its moderators: a meta-analysis." Psychological Bulletin, 132(6), 823-865. 146 randomised studies; overall r = .075, approximately d = .15, statistically significant. Compare Smyth, J. M. (1998), "Written emotional expression: effect sizes, outcome types, and moderating variables," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(1), 174-184, 14 studies, d = .47. The effect shrank by roughly two thirds as the evidence base grew.
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The source
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.823
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.823