Reexamining the Effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques on Stress Biochemistry: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Biology / mechanism 👥 53 participants ⚖️ vs. psychoeducation (active) and no-treatment Moderate rigor ✓ Source-checked 📍 Australia

In plain English. This study repeated an earlier tapping-and-cortisol experiment with a fresh group of 53 adults, comparing tapping against a psychoeducation session and against doing nothing. Cortisol dropped more after tapping than after the psychoeducation session, replicating part of the original finding, though the comparison against the no-treatment group and the self-reported distress results were less clear-cut this time. This is worth flagging honestly: replications don't always repeat every result from the original study.

What they found

This study repeated an earlier tapping-and-cortisol experiment with a fresh group of 53 adults, comparing tapping against a psychoeducation session and against…

Cortisol fell 43.24% in the EFT group versus 19.67% in the psychoeducation group (p<.05); the difference from the no-treatment group (+2.02%) was not statistically significant, and self-reported psychological distress did not show a clear significant replication of the original 2012 finding.

How the study worked

Who took part non-clinical adult volunteers, single 60-minute group session, 3-arm design (n=53)

What they did This study measured biological or physiological signals before and after tapping to probe how it may work.

Compared with psychoeducation (active) and no-treatment

Measured with salivary cortisol, SA-45

⭐ Why this study matters

Cortisol is measured in saliva under lab conditions, and this study did something rare and valuable in science: it tried to repeat an earlier tapping-and-cortisol finding with a fresh set of people, rather than just reporting a new one-off result. That a bigger cortisol drop after tapping than after an active psychoeducation session showed up again is a meaningful piece of replicated, objective evidence, even though the comparison against doing nothing at all was less clear this time.

💡 Where this could help

If this cortisol effect keeps replicating, it strengthens the case that ordinary people, with no clinical diagnosis and no prior training beyond a single session, could use a self-administered technique to blunt their body's stress-hormone response in real time, at no cost and with no therapist required.

🔬 What to study next

Because the no-treatment comparison didn't clearly separate from tapping this time, a valuable next step is a larger sample powered to detect that specific difference, alongside a look at whether the size of the cortisol drop varies with how anxious or stressed someone was going in. It would also help to pair the saliva samples with a same-day HRV reading, to see whether the two stress markers move together and start building a fuller picture of what a single session does to the body's stress systems.

The full record

Design	Biology / mechanism
Participants	53 people
Population	non-clinical adult volunteers, single 60-minute group session, 3-arm design
Comparison group	psychoeducation (active) and no-treatment
Outcome measures	salivary cortisol, SA-45
Journal	Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
Year	2020
Country	Australia
Language	English
Method	EFT / Tapping
Publication type	Study / trial
Verification	✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Stapleton, P., Crighton, G., Sabot, D., & O'Neill, H.M. (2020). Reexamining the Effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques on Stress Biochemistry: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000563

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/Tapping. Explore more studies on Stress & Cortisol · How It Works (Biology)