EMOTIONAL DISCLOSURE WRITING EFFECTS ON BLOOD PRESSURE

描述（改编自研究者摘要）：表达性写作（EW）是 一种干预技术，已被证明可以改善 心理和身体健康的几个对照研究至今。的 干预要求参与者写一篇文章，每次20分钟， 时间，在连续3天，表达他们的想法和感受， 创伤经历这种干预措施的积极健康益处 在两个健康受试者中，就主观 健康和免疫功能以及减少健康中心访问和诊所 患者（即，哮喘和类风湿性关节炎患者）， 减少身体症状。电子战可能行使其 有益的效果与那些可能导致血液中 压力和高血压。然而，还没有研究检查EW的影响 对血压的影响拟议中的研究将测试电子战的效果 使用以下方法干预随后的24小时动态血压（ABP）水平 一项随机对照试验，在该试验中， 随机分配到EW条件或对照条件。干预后 将在1个月和4个月时进行动态血压监测。关于ABP评估 天，还将检查儿茶酚胺水平作为交感神经系统的指数。 通过分析24小时尿液样本的活性。慢性交感 激活是一种建议的机制，通过这种机制，电子战可以运作，测量 干预前和干预后的儿茶酚胺将提供一个测试， 假说.电子战参与者将进一步随机分配到第二个 EW干预或对照条件，允许比较效果 对动态血压进行0次、1次和2次干预。的 书面材料的内容也将分析洞察力的条款， 预测干预对后续动态血压的有效性。

DESCRIPTION (adapted from investigator's abstract): Expressive writing (EW) is an intervention technique that has been shown to produce improvements in psychological and physical health in several controlled studies to date. The intervention calls for participants to write an essay, for 20 minutes at a time, on 3 successive days, expressing their thoughts and feelings about a traumatic experience. The positive health benefits of this intervention have been demonstrated in both healthy subjects, in terms of increases in subjective well-being and immune function and decreased health center visits, and clinic patients (i.e., asthmatics and rheumatoid arthritis patients), in terms of decreased physical symptoms. The mechanisms by which EW may exercise its beneficial effects are consistent with those that may underlie elevated blood pressure and hypertension. However, no study has yet examined the effects of EW on blood pressure. The proposed research will test the effects of an EW intervention on subsequent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) levels using a randomized controlled trial in which uncontrolled mild hypertensives are randomly assigned to the EW condition or a control condition. Post-intervention ambulatory BP monitoring will be performed at 1 and 4 months. On ABP assessment days, catecholamine levels will also be examined as an index of sympathetic activity through analysis of 24-hour urine samples. Chronic sympathetic activation is one proposed mechanism by which EW may operate, and measurement of pre- and post-intervention catecholamines will provide a test of that hypothesis. The EW participants will be further assigned randomly to a second EW intervention or to a control condition, permitting comparison of the effects of zero, one, and two administrations of the intervention on ambulatory BP. The content of written material will also be analyzed for insight terms that may predict the effectiveness of the intervention on subsequent ambulatory BP.