Play It (Again) Sam

Linguistic Changes Predict Improved Mental and Physical Health Among Older Adults

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2350396
AutoresNathan S Consedine (0000-0002-7691-0938, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand), Yulia S Krivoshekova (Counties-Manukau Community Mental Health Center, Auckland, New Zealand), Carol Magai (Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA)
Año2012
Volumen31
Número3
Páginas240-262
Fecha de publicación2012-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Language and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0261-927X • E-ISSN: 1552-6526
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0261927x12446736
OpenAlexW2171574686
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas58

Studies suggest that disclosure alters representations of emotional or traumatic events and that linguistic parameters may index such change. Most work has been conducted among younger adults; hence, this report examined whether changes in the proportions of pronoun, emotion, and cognitive characteristics across two narrations predicted changes in mental and physical health outcomes in a later life sample. Black and White men and women ( N = 160) aged 50 to 70 years completed two 10-minute oral disclosures at baseline and 1-month follow-up, describing a sad event in conjunction with either a happy or a neutral event, and completed measures of depressive symptomatology, stress, and health. Despite some variation across outcomes, reductions in symptoms were generally predicted by lowered proportions of first personal singular pronouns and sadness words and increased proportions of insight and causal words; directional change scores were more useful than absolute change in predicting outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for tailoring disclosure-based interventions among older groups for which traditional written paradigms may be poorly suited, and directions for future research are given

Anger · Cognition · Developmental psychology · Linguistics · Mental health · Pronoun · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Sadness · Clinical Psychology · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Mental Health via Writing · Psychology