By Dr. Sue Hubbard
When I was a teenager, if you had something you wanted to get off your chest, but you didn’t want anyone to know, you’d write it in your diary. A diary was a safe place to express sadness, confusion, anxiety, joy and excitement. And being a teenager, all those emotions were swirling inside my head
all the time.
Q. What did the writer write about in her diary? Do you keep a diary? Why?
For some strange reason, I always felt better after writing it all down, clicking the lock shut, and placing the diary in a spot I thought no one would look. My musings were usually personal thoughts that I didn’t think anyone else would understand anyway.
Today’s kids are much more likely to share their thoughts over the Internet in a personal blog, and a new study says that could actually be very helpful. Research has long supported the therapeutic value of diary keeping and journaling for teens and adults. But now, researchers suggest blogging might even be better.
Q. Teens used to express their thoughts in a private diary that noone could read. Do teens still do this? Today, some teens are expressing their thoughts on blogs that others can see. Which do you think is better?
The study, published in the journal Psychological Services and conducted by Meyran Boniel-Nissim and Azy Barak, psychology professors at the University of Haifa, Israel, found that engaging with an online community was “more effective in relieving the writer’s social distress than a private diary would be,” Pamela Paul wrote in January in the New York Times.
Q. What did the study find out about sharing thoughts online?
So, how did they discover that? The researchers randomly surveyed high school students in Israel, then picked 161 (124 girls and 37 boys) who “said they had difficulty making new friends or relating to their existing friends,” Paul wrote. Average age was 15. The teens were divided into six groups.
“The first two groups were asked to blog about their social difficulties, with one group asked to open their posts to comments. The second two groups were asked to blog about whatever struck their adolescent fancy; again, with one group allowing comments,” Paul noted. “All four groups were told to write in their blogs at least twice a week. As a control, two more groups were told to keep a print diary or to do nothing at all.”
Q. There were six groups altogether. What did the first two groups do? What did the second two groups do? What did the third (control) group do? Which group ended up feeling better (improved their mood)?
“Almost all comments made by readers were very positive and constructive in trying to offer support for distressed bloggers,” Dr. Barak wrote in an email to Paul.
Royar Loflin, a 17-year-old blogger from Norfolk, Va., didn’t participate in the study, but said blogging helps her find peace of mind. “I definitely write posts in which I talk about being overwhelmed, and it helps me to relax,” Loflin told Paul. “People will write in the comments, ‘I remember when I was in your shoes’ and ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get through the SATs!’ and it’s wonderful. It really helped me understand things better.”
Q. So what is the conclusion about blogging? Do you have your own blog where you post your thoughts? Do you let people read it and post comments?
Words and phrases
Get something off your chest - Tell someone something because you are unhappy
Musings - Thoughts
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