Reappraisal writing relieves social anxiety and may be accompanied by changes in frontal alpha asymmetry.

ABSTRACT: It is widely reported that expressive writing can improve mental and physical health. However, to date, the neural correlates of expressive writing have not been reported. The current study examined the neural electrical correlates of expressive writing in a reappraisal approach. Three groups of participants were required to give a public speech. Before speaking, the reappraisal writing group was asked to write about the current stressful task in a reappraisal manner. The irrelevant writing group was asked to write about their weekly plan, and the non-writing group did not write anything. It was found that following the experimental writing manipulation, both reappraisal and irrelevant writing conditions decreased self-reported anxiety levels. But when re-exposed to the stressful situation

SUBMITTER: Wang F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4612649 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature