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Draagt het woordgebruik in een schrijfcursus bij aan een daling in depressie? Een analyse van e-mails van deelnemers die een zelfhulpcursus met e-mailbegeleiding volgden

Withaar, Esther (2011) Draagt het woordgebruik in een schrijfcursus bij aan een daling in depressie? Een analyse van e-mails van deelnemers die een zelfhulpcursus met e-mailbegeleiding volgden.

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Abstract:Aim: The current study examined whether the use of emotion words, cognitive words and words in past, present and future tense contributes to a decrease in depression in participants of a self-help course for people with mild to moderate depressive symptoms, called “Op verhaal komen”. Method: For this study, 20 participants who took part in the self-help course, have been selected: ten participants who had a decrease in depressive symptoms and ten who had an increase in depressive symptoms after they took part in the course. The Dutch version of the CES-D scale has been used to assess depression. Each week, eight weeks in a row, participants sent their counselor in an e-mail the essence of the assignments they made that week. These e-mails were analyzed using the text analysis program Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). Positive and negative emotion words, cognitive words and words in past, present and future tense were counted. Results: A significant relation between word use and a decrease in depression could not be found. Although, there has been observed an increase in use of positive emotion words, regardless of the change in depressive symptoms after the course. In addition, participants used less words in past tense and more words in present tense in the last couple of modules, also independent of their change in depression. Conclusion: The use of emotion words, cognitive words and words in past, present and future tense does not contribute to a decrease in depression. However, participants use more positive emotion words as the course progresses. These findings suggest that the self-help course “Op verhaal komen” ensures participants to write more positive about their lives.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology BSc (56604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/60954
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