TY - JOUR
T1 - Emotional disclosure for whom? A study of vagal tone in bereavement
AU - O'Connor, Mary Frances
AU - Allen, John J.B.
AU - Kaszniak, Alfred W.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was partially supported by a University of Arizona Graduate College Dissertation Grant. Special thanks to Dick Bootzin, Richard Lane, and Varda Shoham for their comments. Thanks also to Bob Simons and to an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. Address correspondence to Mary Frances O’Connor, Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, University of California, Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, C8-746, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1759, Email http://www.mfoconnor@mednet.ucla.edu or to John JB Allen, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0068, Email http://www.jallen@u.arizona.edu .
PY - 2005/2
Y1 - 2005/2
N2 - Recent investigations have shown little evidence that written disclosure benefits bereaved individuals over a control condition. The present study hypothesized that the effectiveness of written disclosure for bereavement may be moderated by vagal tone, as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Vagal tone has been identified as an important individual difference in depression. The present study investigated 35 bereaved participants in a longitudinal design, with participants writing each week for 3 weeks, and then participating in follow-up sessions 1 week and 1 month later. As with previous studies, bereaved participants showed improvement, although no differential improvement was seen in the emotional Disclosure group compared to a Control writing group. As hypothesized, however, those participants with the highest RSA benefited most from the written disclosure, while RSA level did not predict outcome in the control condition. Future research should investigate whether vagal tone moderates the impact of written disclosure for non-bereaved individuals.
AB - Recent investigations have shown little evidence that written disclosure benefits bereaved individuals over a control condition. The present study hypothesized that the effectiveness of written disclosure for bereavement may be moderated by vagal tone, as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Vagal tone has been identified as an important individual difference in depression. The present study investigated 35 bereaved participants in a longitudinal design, with participants writing each week for 3 weeks, and then participating in follow-up sessions 1 week and 1 month later. As with previous studies, bereaved participants showed improvement, although no differential improvement was seen in the emotional Disclosure group compared to a Control writing group. As hypothesized, however, those participants with the highest RSA benefited most from the written disclosure, while RSA level did not predict outcome in the control condition. Future research should investigate whether vagal tone moderates the impact of written disclosure for non-bereaved individuals.
KW - Bereavement
KW - Depression
KW - Emotional disclosure
KW - Parasympathetic
KW - RSA
KW - Vagal tone
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2004.04.003
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2004.04.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 15450693
AN - SCOPUS:4644233670
SN - 0019-493X
VL - 68
SP - 135
EP - 146
JO - Biological Psychology
JF - Biological Psychology
IS - 2
ER -