The health benefits of writing about life goals

In a variation on Pennebaker's writing paradigm, a sample of 81 undergradua tes wrote about one of four topics for 20 minutes each day for 4 consecutiv e days. Participants were randomly assigned to write about their most traum atic life event, their best possible future self both of these topics, or a nonemotional control topic. Mood was measured before and after writing end health center data for illness were obtained with participant consent. Thr ee weeks later, measures of subjective well-being were obtained. Writing ab out life goals was significantly less upsetting than writing about trauma a nd was associated with a significant increase in subjective well-being. Fiv e months after writing, a significant interaction emerged such that writing about trauma, one's best possible self, or both were associated with decre ased illness compared with controls. Results indicate that writing about se lf-regulatory topics can be associated with the same health benefits as wri ting about trauma.