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Short
Report
Positive Emotion Displayed in a
Writing Task Predicts Salivary Biochemical Changes
Rachel Williams, Autumn Laffoon and Jason E. Warnick
Arkansas Tech University
Address correspondence to Jason E. Warnick, Ph.D, Department
of Behavioral Sciences, Arkansas Tech University, 407 West Q
St., Russellville, AR 72801 USA, e-mail:
jwarnick@atu.edu
ABSTRACT:
This investigation sought to begin detailing the
biochemical changes that occur in response to a mood induction
writing task. The level of positive emotion found in the
participant writing samples was found to be predictive of
increased levels of secretory immunoglobulin A,
dehydroepiandrosterone and cortisol. These findings are in
congruence with the results of other mood induction tasks.
One frequently utilized
emotion-altering experimental technique is the mood induction
writing task, where participants write about emotionally-arousing
topics (e.g., Baker & Guttfreund, 1993). Research on the biochemical
changes induced by this task has been limited. One of the few
relevant investigations found that writing about negative emotive
topics lowered stress hormone levels (Warnick & Liddell, 2008, this
issue). This finding may be due to the writing task’s similarities
to expressive written therapy (see Pennebaker, 1997). Pennebaker and
colleagues have demonstrated that written therapy produces positive
health outcomes (Pennebaker, 1997). Further, other researchers have
found that the level of emotion displayed predicts degree of health
outcome (Gillis, Lumley, Mosley-Williams, Leisen, & Roehrs, 2006).
In the current study, we investigated whether the level of emotion
produced by a mood induction writing task predicted changes in
levels of the immune system marker secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA),
the sex steroid dehydroepiandrosterone
(DHEA) and the stress hormone cortisol.
METHOD
This investigation utilized the data
from a previous study in this laboratory (see Warnick & Liddell,
2008). In that experiment, participants wrote for 30 min in one of
two groups: a positive group that wrote about someone they loved or
a negative group that wrote about someone they hated. Participants
provided a saliva sample both before and after the writing task that
was analyzed via ELISA for SIgA, DHEA, and cortisol concentration (SIgA,
DHEA and ER HS Cortisol Research; Salimetrics, LLC, State College,
PA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s
instructions. The intra-assay coefficients for each assay ranged
from 2.11% to 4.45%.
The essays composed in the writing
task were digitally transcribed and the level of emotion was
determined by the Linguistic Inquiry
and Word Count software
program (version 2007). Each essay was analyzed for the
percentage of words displaying positive emotion, negative emotion,
anxiety, sadness and anger.
Ethical Considerations
This experiment was approved by the Arkansas Tech University Human
Subjects Research Committee and conducted under the ethical
guidelines of the American Psychological Association.
RESULTS
In the positive group, stepwise
linear regression analyses revealed that increased level of positive
emotion was the sole significant predictor of increased
concentrations of SIgA (β=.876, p<.0001), DHEA (β=.767,
p<.0001) and cortisol (β=.84, p<.0001).
Similarly, in the negative writing task, stepwise linear regression
analyses revealed that increased levels of positive emotion was the
sole significant predictor of increased concentrations of SIgA (β=.718,
p<.005), DHEA (β=.679, p<.005) and cortisol (β=.872,
p<.0001).
DISCUSSION
This experiment investigated whether
the level of emotion displayed in a mood induction task predicted
biochemical changes. The level of positive emotion was found to be
predictive of increases in SIgA, DHEA and cortisol. These findings
are consistent with studies that show positive affect correlates
with androgen release (Booth, Shelley, Mazur, & Tharp, 1989) and
increased immune system function (Stone, Cox, Valdimarsdottir,
Jandorf, & Neale, 1987). The finding that positive emotive writing
is associated with the release of cortisol is consistent with the
previous finding that negative emotive tasks decrease cortisol
levels (Warnick & Liddell, 2008). These findings begin biochemically
profiling the writing task and suggest potential changes associated
with expressive therapy.
REFERENCES
Baker, R.C., & Guttfreund, D.G.
(1993). The effects of written autobiographical recollection
induction procedures on mood. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49,
563-568.
Booth, A., Shelley, G., Mazur, A.,
Tharp, G., & Kittok, R. (1989).
Testosterone, and winning and losing in human competition.
Hormones and Behavior, 23, 556-571.
Gillis, M.E., Lumley, M.A.,
Mosley-Williams, A., Leisen, J.C.C., Roehrs, T. (2006). The health
effects of at-home written emotional disclosure in fibromyalgia: A
randomized trial. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 32, 135-146.
Pennebaker, J.W. (1997). Opening
up: The healing power of expressing emotions (revised edition).
New York: Guilford Press.
Sloan, D.M., & Marx, B.P. (2004). A
closer examination of the structured written disclosure procedure.
Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 72, 165-175.
Stone, A.A., Cox, D.S.,
Valdimarsdottir, H., Jandorf, L., & Neale, J.M. (1987).
Evidence that secretory IgA antibody is
associated with daily
mood. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 988-993.
Warnick, J. E., & Liddell, C. D.
(2008). The neurochemical profile of positive and negative emotions.
Electronic Journal of Integrative Bioscience, 5(1),35-38.
Accepted for
publication: 10 December 2008
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