Background. Meaning in life is one of the psychological domains that is most severely affected in patients with life-threatening illnesses. The importance of meaning-making mandates the development of reliable tools to assess this construct. Steger’s Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) is one of the most valid and reliable instruments that determines the search for and presence of meaning in life. The present study was conducted to provide psychometric data on the MLQ in a sample of patients with life-threatening illnesses. Methods. The MLQ was completed by 301 patients (aged 20–80 years) diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses (cancer and multiple sclerosis) and referred to hospitals. Confirmatory factor analysis and Pearson’s correlation test were used to determine the construct validity of the questionnaire. Results. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the original two-factor model of the MLQ, comprised of the presence of meaning (five items) and search for meaning (five items). The responses to the MLQ did not differ by sociodemographic factors. Most importantly, contrary to previous findings, the correlation between the two subscales, i.e., search for meaning and presence of meaning, was significant and positive. Conclusion. The results showed that the MLQ is a valid and reliable measure for assessing meaning in life that can be applied in research on meaning in life among other patient populations.
Introduction and Objective: Elderly people face existential issues such as death, loss of meaning in life, fear of death, lack of life and last chances. If people, cannot effectively confront it, this loss of meaning in life, will form the main core of a set of syndromes that are called "demoralization". This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-existential therapy on reducing demoralization in the elderly. Method: The present study was carried out using a pretest-posttest semi-experimental design with control group and random assignment. The statistical population included all the elderly women in Yas Daily Rehabilitation Center. In this study, 22 people were selected through non-random sampling and after answering the demoralization scale (Kissane, 2004) and Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire (Abdollahzade et al. 2010 quoted from Farmani-Shahreza et al. 2016) they were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (each group included 11 people). The experimental group participated in 12 cognitive-emotional group therapy sessions (each session 90 minutes) once a week, but the control group did not receive any intervention. The collected data were processed using SPSS-20 software to calculate covariance analysis. Results: The results showed a significant reduction in the demoralization and cognitive distortions compared to the pretest. Also, in a two month follow-up session, demoralization andcognitive distortion scores were significantly reduced compared to pretest. Conclusion: Cognitive existential group therapy on the one hand, due to addressing the existential issues of the elderly, and, on the other hand, working with their irrational beliefs and replacing rational beliefs, can have an effect on reducing of the demoralization syndrome in the elderly.
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