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Key points
- A new study finds that a journaling exercise may help alleviate depression symptoms for young people.
- The exercise involves reflecting back on different chapters on the young adult’s life.
- The exercise was most helpful for young people who wrote about growth or positive turning points.
Research clearly documents an increase in depression and anxiety among young people in the U.S. Many families are searching for tools that can help, and a new Cornell University study finds reflective journaling – in which young people think about their motivations and goals throughout their lives – may offer a solution
Psychologists from Cornell’s Purpose and Identity Processes Lab recruited more than 100 people aged 18 to 29 who were experiencing moderate to severe depression. They were randomly split into two groups – either journaling about ordinary daily activities or reflecting on different chapters of their lives including early childhood, middle school, high school, college, and their futures. Participants in the second group were asked to describe their motivations and goals, then summarize each stage in a single word. The intervention lasted two weeks for both groups.
The Effects of Reflective Journaling on Depression and Identity
Two months after completing the journaling exercises, the group that had reflected on their life chapters reported significantly less depression and less “derailment,” a perceived mismatch between their current and past identities
“Something about journaling based on your identities and connecting them through time – throughout your life story – appears to be psychologically beneficial,” said doctoral candidate Christopher Davis, the study’s lead author. “Connecting yourself back to yourself in such an explicit manner, and thinking about how you can take that forward, seems to be therapeutic.”
The researchers describe this as building “self-continuity” — a sense that your past, present, and future self is part of one coherent story. Prior research has linked strong self-continuity to psychological resilience; this study is among the first to test whether it can be deliberately strengthened through a short writing exercise
Why Reflective Journaling May Help Some More Than Others
Not everyone responded the same way; many participants experienced fewer depressive symptoms, but about a quarter saw no change. Digging into the journal entries, researchers found that participants who improved most wrote reflectively, recalling growth or positive turning points. Those who benefited least wrote briefly and dwelled on painful memories without connecting them to anything beyond themselves. The exercise seemed to help most when it sparked genuine reflection rather than rumination.
That distinction matters: Prompting a young person to write about their feelings isn’t automatically therapeutic. For someone prone to spiraling into negative thinking, unstructured journaling can reinforce negative patterns
To try this at home, ask a teen or young adult to describe themselves, in a word or two, at a few different ages. Invite them to share what mattered at each stage and what they carried forward. The goal isn’t to relive hard moments, but to help a young person see their life as one continuous, evolving story
“This work demonstrates an accessible, actionable way to address this growing issue that we see in emerging adults of simultaneous increases in depression and loss of identity,” Davis said. “If someone is willing to do this, these journaling prompts could offer a promising avenue for symptom relief for a vast number of people.”
- What Is Depression?
- Take our Depression Test
- Find a therapist to overcome depression
The take-home message: a prescribed journaling exercise that prompts young people to reflect on stages on their lives can help alle
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