Finding meaning in suffering?-Meaning making and psychological adjustment over the course of a breast cancer disease

Abstract

This study aimed to explore individual meaning systems in the course of a breast cancer disease to test the assumed positive relation between meaning and well-being and to investigate the relationship between post-traumatic growth and well-being. A total of 65 patients with breast cancer were examined 1 year after initial treatment and another year follow-up. Questionnaires addressed meaning in life (MLQ), anxiety and depression (HADS), satisfaction with life (SWLS), health-related quality of life (EQ-5D, EORTC) and post-traumatic growth (PTGI). Personal meaning systems were assessed using a qualitative method. In the personal meaning systems with well-being and relationships as the most frequently named meaning categories, the experienced gains far outweigh the losses sustained as a result of the disease. A stronger sense of meaning was related to lower levels of anxiety and depression, a higher level of satisfaction with life and better health-related functioning. Well-being and post-traumatic growth were mostly independent. Reported losses were strongly related to a poorer well-being. Cancer can induce a process of personal growth, and a strong sense of purpose could facilitate psychological adjustment. The often claimed correlation of post-traumatic growth and a better psychological adjustment is still lacking clear evidence, whereas losses proofed to be crucial.

Relationships among hope, meaning in life, and post‐traumatic growth in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A cross‐sectional study

“…LÖfller et al (2012) have also discovered that patients with strengthening meaning in life can be more skilled in coping with traumatic life events to stimulate PTG (LÖfller et al, 2012). The association between meaning in life and PTG has mainly focused on following groups: patients with cancer from Germany, Australian, the United States, and China (Loeffler et al, 2018;Park et al, 2008;Shand et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2016); survivors from America floods (Dursun et al, 2016); individuals who have gone through terrorism in Chile (Cárdenas-Castro et al, 2017); undergraduate students from the USA (Triplett et al, 2012); teenagers who have experienced Chinese Wenchuan earthquake (Xiong et al, 2015); Israel people with serious mental illness (Mazor et al, 2018); Canadian adults who have lost a loved one (Davis et al, 2007), and so on. However, little is known about empirical study exploring the relationship between meaning in life and PTG of patients with COPD.…”

Mediating effects of general self-efficacy on the relationship between the source of meaning in life and prosocial behaviours in vocational college nursing students: A cross-sectional study

“…The perception of SML can make the individual feel that life is full of meaning. In contrast, an individual's failure to find meaning or purpose in existence can lead to feelings of emptiness, neurosis, substance abuse, and even suicide, which are negative effects that accompany a lack of "meaning" [10][11][12][13]. Prosocial behaviour refers to altruistic behaviours that are consistent with social expectations and bring benefits to others, the collective, society and the country [14].…”

Meaning in life and physical quality of life: Cross-lagged associations during inpatient rehabilitation.

“…Longitudinal studies that explored the associations between meaning in life and physical QOL among people with severe illnesses were conducted mainly with cancer survivors (Bai, Lazenby, Jeon, Dixon, & McCorkle, 2015; Boehmer, Luszczynska, & Schwarzer, 2007; Loeffler, Poehlmann, & Hornemann, 2018) and patients with congestive heart failure (Park et al, 2008). These studies tested (and supported) one hypothesis, assuming that higher initial levels of meaning in life are related to better physical QOL at the follow-ups.…”