Meaning in life and resilience to stressors

Ostafin, Brian D. and Proulx, Travis ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3763-3138 2020. Meaning in life and resilience to stressors. Anxiety, Stress and Coping 33 (6) , pp. 603-622.

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Abstract

Background and Objectives: This research examined whether life meaning promotes resilience to stressor-related psychological distress and repetitive negative thinking. Design and Methods: Three studies (total N= 273) used cross-sectional (Study 1) and prospective (Studies 2 and 3) designs to assess the relation between life meaning and response to various stressors. Results: Results showed that in Study 1, greater life meaning was inversely related with repetitive negative thinking and psychological distress. Further, distress partially mediated the life meaning-repetitive negative thinking relation. In Study 2, baseline life meaning predicted less repetitive negative thinking about a subsequent city-wide flood. In Study 3, baseline life meaning was inversely related to distress and repetitive negative thinking after writing about an aversive memory. Mediation analyses showed an indirect effect for the life meaning-repetitive negative thinking relation through distress. Conclusions: In all studies, life meaning predicted outcomes when controlling for other positive well-being variables. Overall, the findings suggest that individuals with greater trait life meaning experience less stressor-related distress and repetitive negative thinking and that the life meaning-repetitive negative thinking relation may be mediated by distress.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	1061-5806
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 July 2020
Date of Acceptance:	10 July 2020
Last Modified:	14 Nov 2023 22:27
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/133412

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