Effect Of Written Emotional Expression On Immune Function In HIV Patients: A Randomized Trial.pdf

Thirty-seven HIV-infected patients were randomly allocated to 2 writing conditions focusing on emotional or control topics. Participants wrote for 4 days, 30 minutes per day. The CD4 lymphocyte count and HIV viral load were measured at baseline and at 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after writing. The emotional writing participants rated their essays as more personal, valuable, and emotional than those in the control condition. Relative to the drop in HIV viral load, CD4 lymphocyte counts increased after the intervention for participants in the emotional writing condition compared with control writing participants. The results are consistent with those of previous studies using emotional writing in other patient groups. Based on the self-reports of the value of writing and the preliminary laboratory findings, the results suggest that emotional writing may provide benefit for patients with HIV infection. The study's findings are consistent with a meta-analysis of studies conducted in this area, which has shown consistent and significant improvements in health outcomes after written emotional expression. The study's results also support the hypothesis that written emotional disclosure can affect HIV viral load and CD4 lymphocyte count in HIV-infected patients. The study's design and procedure involved randomizing participants to either the emotional writing or control group, with 20 participants in the experimental group and 17 in the control group. Participants wrote for 30 minutes on 4 consecutive days using a desktop computer in a small, private room. The intervention group was asked to write about the most traumatic and emotional experiences of their lives, while the control group participants wrote about how they used their time. The study's assessments included measuring the CD4 lymphocyte count and HIV viral load at baseline and at 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after writing. The study's findings suggest that written emotional disclosure may be a useful intervention for patients with HIV infection.