Content of Disclosure and Health: Autonomic Response to Talking About a Stressful Event

Abstract

The study examined physiological and psychological changes associated with the content of disclosure of a stressful event. A total of 60 students were assigned to either an emotion and facts or a facts-only disclosure condition. Each participant talked about a highly stressful personal event for 5–10 min, while skin conductance was recorded. Measures of negative mood were assessed before and after disclosure. In the emotions and facts condition, skin conductance significantly decreased, whereas the facts-only condition showed no significant change. Sadness and guilt significantly increased frombefore to after disclosure in both conditions. Including emotional content in verbal disclosure of a highly stressful event may decrease physiological arousal, whereas sadness and guilt may increase whether emotional content is included or not. The findings have implications for applied areas of consultation-liaison services and early crisis intervention. [Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 7:176–183 (2007)]