Emotional Disclosure Through Journal Writing: Telehealth Intervention for Maternal Stress and Mother-Child Relationships.

Moms of kids with autism, ADHD, or sensory issues wrote in a private online journal. They got prompts like "What was hard today?" and typed for 15 minutes, three nights a week.

Half the moms were in a control group. They wrote about daily plans instead of feelings. The study lasted six weeks and used random assignment.

Moms who wrote about feelings had lower stress scores than the control group. They also said their relationship with their child felt warmer and easier.

The study calls this an "emotional-disclosure" effect. Putting hard feelings into words seems to shrink them.

Lee (2013) shows moms of kids with developmental issues carry chronic stress and poor sleep. Worsham et al. (2015) adds a cheap, at-home tool to ease that load.

Rodgers et al. (2025) went further. They blended group boards plus live coaching and also cut parent stress. Their hybrid model keeps the telehealth angle but adds real-time support.

Ozturk et al. (2016) found child communication gains predict lower maternal distress. Worsham et al. (2015) flips the direction: help the mom first, and the bond with the child still grows.

You can hand a busy parent a low-tech journal link tonight. No travel, no cost, no extra staff. Use it as a stand-alone stress buffer or as a bridge while families wait for heavier services. Track stress with a quick five-item scale every two weeks; celebrate even small drops.