Writing About Experiences and Health in Older Adults

UCLA researchers looking for healthy females (age 60+) to participate in a study investigating how writing about your experiences may be related to your health.

Once a week for 6 weeks, participants will write about their experiences and fill out online questionnaires. Participants will also come to the UCLA campus for blood draws and to fill out questionnaires 3 times: once prior to the 6-week writing period, once immediately after the 6-week period, and once 2-months after the writing period.

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Key information

Conditions

Social Psychology

Age range

60 year–100 year

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

UCLA Clinical & Translational Research Center (CTRC)

Los Angeles, California, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Healthy adults 60 years and older

Exclusion criteria

Following a structured telephone interview, participants with the following conditions will not be able to participate:

current smokers
active, uncontrolled medical disorders
chronic infection (e.g., Hepatitis C, HIV)
use of certain medications (e.g., hypnotic and psychotropic medication, steroid use, opioid use)
psychiatric disorders (e.g., current major depression, bipolar disorder)
body mass index (BMI) greater than 35

Other exclusion criteria may apply.

Treatment and study plan

Writing: Group 1

Behavioral

Writing about experiences with familiar individuals in their lives, once a week for 6 weeks.

Writing: Group 2

Other

Writing about experiences with familiar places, once a week for 6 weeks.

Primary outcomes

Inflammatory activity

Time frame: baseline, post 6-week writing period, 2-months post-writing period

Changes in proinflammatory cytokine and proinflammatory gene expression from blood draws
Health and well-being (self-report)

Time frame: baseline, post 6-week writing period, 2-months post-writing period

Changes in self-report measures of health (e.g., pain, sleep) and well-being (e.g., social support, depression)

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Other

Collaborators

National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2015
Primary completion: 2017
Study completion: 2017
First posted: Jun 15, 2015
Registry last updated: Mar 18, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed