Writing About Past Failures Attenuates Cortisol Responses and Sustained Attention Deficits Following Psychosocial Stress.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Controlled experimental laboratory trial in humans (by design analogy)
PubMed 29628878 · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00045
What was done
Researchers conducted an experimental study in humans to investigate the effects of an acute psychosocial stressor (the Trier Social Stress Test) on attentional performance and salivary cortisol release. They evaluated whether an expressive writing task—writing about a past failure prior to stress exposure—would reduce physiological stress responses and protect sustained attention performance.
What was found
Participants who wrote about a past failure before stress exposure showed attenuated salivary cortisol responses and better behavioral performance on a sustained attention task compared to the reference condition. The abstract reports no numerical values, effect sizes, baseline measurements, or statistical significance levels.
Why it matters
This study provides physiological and behavioral evidence that expressive writing about past failures can buffer against the neuroendocrine and cognitive deficits induced by acute psychosocial stress.
Limits
The abstract does not provide the sample size (n), participant demographics, or numerical results. Details about the control writing condition, randomization, and generalizability beyond a laboratory stressor are not stated.
Cited by
- supports James Pennebaker's expressive writing lowers cortisol levels.