No abstract

This study investigates, combining qualitative and quantitative research methods, the sources of meaning in life of young adult patients and nonpatients. In addition to the exploratory concerns, the current investigation tested the following three predictions: (a) Relationships are the most frequent sources of meaning in life; (b) patients are less committed to their personal meanings than nonpatients; and (c) participants’ degrees of meaning in life, as operationalized with their scores on the Life Regard Index (LRI), are related to the degree of their commitment to their personal meanings. Findings from both the phenomenal and statistical analyses strongly support the predictions and generally confirm the clinical relevance of the meaning in life construct. Notably, the interpersonal dimension appears a critically relevant domain in the established differential effects in both nonpatients-patients and females-males comparisons. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are offered.

The clinical relevance of the meaning in life construct is examined by evaluating its ability to predict patients' general and psychological well-being and their post-treatment functioning. Evidence is obtained for the notion that meaning in life (a) would affect both positive and negative aspects of well-being, (b) that it would be related to improvement during psychotherapy, and (c) that it would predict the outcome of psychotherapy, independently of patients' pre-treatment levels of well-being. The findings not only support the clinical relevance of the meaning in life concept, but they also favour the construct validity of the Life Regard Index, an instrument that was designed to measure the relevant construct. It is concluded that the neglected meaning in life issue deserves greater therapeutic and scientific consideration. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The present study investigates the relation of aspects of meaning in life with indices of psychological well-being by means of a combined qualitative and quantitative design. Content analysis of subjects' answers to open questions about personal experiences with meaning in life showed findings that are in line with phenomena that are reported in the literature. Meaningfulness was found to be strongly associated with contact with self, others and the world, whereas meaninglessness was associated with a state of alienation from self, others and the world. The Life Regard Index (LRI), an instrument designed to measure the construct of positive life regard, was found to be strongly associated with the interpersonal dimension of well-being. The exchange of both positive and negative feelings was associated with positive life regard. As predicted, effective coping with stressful life events in the past was associated with a current sense of meaningfulness as measured with the LRI. The findings support the clinical significance of the construct of meaning in life and add to the validity of the LRI. The strength and weakness of a combined qualitative and quantitative research approach are discussed.

Sociodemographic variables, social support, and physical health have been used previously in a few predictor models of loneliness and psychological distress in late life. The present study, however, was designed to test the hypothesis that self-efficacy beliefs of elderly persons are significantly stronger predictors of loneliness and psychological distress than are demographics, social support, and physical health variables used in earlier predictor models. A sample of 141 women and 101 men, aged 65 to 86, reporting awide range of health status from "poor" to "excellent" was drawn from the region of Southern Alberta. Standard self-report measures were used to assess perceived self-efficacy in eight different domains. Findings from a series of hierarchical regression analyses that were conducted separately for men, women, and the combined sample supported the hypothesis concerning the superiority of the self-efficacy variables as predictors of loneliness and psychological distress. Gender-specific variations revealed that women's stronger self-efficacy domains in the interpersonal, social, and emotional realms, and men's stronger self-efficacy beliefs in the instrumental, financial, and physical realms predicted less loneliness and psychological distress. Spiritual self-efficacy emerged as being the most potent predictor, accounting for the largest percentage of explained variance in loneliness and psychological distress in the women's and combined sample. Implications of the findings are discussed for geriatric practitioners and clinicians.