Effects of emotional disclosure of elders' health

该项目的主要目标是了解简单的心理社会干预（书面情感披露）如何改善老年人的身体，心理和认知健康。另一个目标是探索这些好处产生的机制是否是减少不必要的或侵入性的想法。60岁及以上的参与者将被随机分配到两个实验组中的一个（每组n = 100）。每个小组将在两周内就指定的主题写六次，每天20分钟。治疗组将被要求表达他们对生命历程中经历的损失或失望的最深刻的想法和感受，而对照组将被要求描述他们的日常活动。在随机分配之前，在最后一次写作会议之后立即和一个月后，参与者将完成一系列评估侵入性思维，客观和主观身体健康，幸福感和认知功能的测量（例如，工作记忆和日常认知）。 具体目标1.重复以前的研究结果，从大学生样本，写关于压力源有有益的影响，工作记忆和身体健康。 具体目标2。评估表达性写作对广泛的认知能力的影响。在基线时评估不想要的想法、认知功能、身体健康和现实世界认知功能指标表现之间的相关性。具体目标4。研究表达性写作在多大程度上减少了这些不必要的想法，以及减少侵入性想法的个体差异是否与对身心健康和认知功能的有益影响有关。具体目标5.检查干预措施效果的持久性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary objective of this project is to understand how a simple psycho-social intervention (written emotional disclosure) might improve the physical, psychological, and cognitive health of older adults. An additional objective is to explore whether the mechanism by which these benefits are produced is the reduction of unwanted or intrusive thoughts. Participants aged 60 and older will be randomly assigned to one; of two experimental groups (n = 100 per group). Each group will write six times, for 20 minutes per day, over a two-week period, on an assigned topic. The treatment group will be asked to express their deepest thoughts and feelings about losses or disappointments they have experienced over their life course, while the control group will be asked to describe how their daily activities. Prior to random assignment, immediately following the last writing session and one month later, the participants will complete a battery of measures assessing intrusive thinking, objective and subjective physical health, well-being, and cognitive function (e.g., working memory and everyday cognition). Specific aim 1. To replicate previous findings from college student samples that writing about a stressor has beneficial effects on working memory and physical health. Specific aim 2. To assess the effects of expressive writing on a broad array of cognitive abilities Specific aim 3. To assess at baseline the association between unwanted thoughts, cognitive functioning, physical health, and performance on measures of real-world cognitive functioning. Specific aim 4. To investigate the extent to which expressive writing reduces these unwanted thoughts and whether individual differences in the reduction of intrusive thoughts is associated with the beneficial effects on physical and mental health and cognitive function. Specific aim 5. Examine the durability of the intervention's effects.