Meaning in Life: Relationship to Clinical Diagnosis and Psychotherapy Outcome

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the relationship of meaning in life (MiL) to clinical diagnosis and psychotherapy outcome and investigate specific meaning areas. Method: This study investigated 214 inpatients with mental disorders and 856 healthy controls using self-report measures of MiL and psychopathological symptoms. Results: Patients showed lower MiL compared to controls.Diagnosis-specific differences in MiL were found for depression. MiL increased in the course of treatment and remained stable at follow-up. The most relevant meaning areas were social relationships for patients and controls. Conclusion: This study provides evidence for lower MiL in inpatients with a spectrum of mental disorders, and in particular in patients with depression, compared to controls. Furthermore, perceived meaning improves over the duration of psychotherapy. Employing aspects of the meaning framework in therapy may be useful to help patients overcome psychological problems and make life worth living. C

Associations Among Meaning in Life, Body Image, Psychopathology, and Suicide Ideation in Spanish Participants With Eating Disorders

“…Meaning in life increases across age groups from adolescence to mature adulthood, and older people score higher on meaning in life than young people (Steger, Oishi, & Kashdan, ). In recent decades, a broad consensus has emerged among researchers about the link between the experience of low meaning in life and psychopathology (Harlow, Newcomb, & Bentler, ; Schulenberg, Strack, & Buchanan, ; Volkert, Schulz, Brütt, & Andreas, ). Research carried out in a Spanish clinical sample confirms this association (Marco, Perez, & García‐Alandete, ).…”

How does meaning in life predict proactive coping? The self‐regulatory mechanism on emotion and cognition

“…Meaning in life (MIL) has become a target of increased theoretical and empirical interest in positive psychology. Although it is clear that MIL contributes to mental health and functioning (Haugan, ; Hooker, Masters, & Park, ; Volkert, Schulz, Brütt, & Andreas, ), the underlying mechanism behind this relationship remains a source of debate and lacks empirical evidence (Hooker et al, ). In the current study, we focused on the adaptive function of MIL for coping and the mechanism that accounts for the relationship.…”

Meaning in Life Buffers the Association Between Risk Factors for Suicide and Hopelessness in Participants With Mental Disorders

“…By contrast, a low level of meaning in life is a negative cognitive-emotional-motivational state associated with hopelessness, a perception of lack of control over one's life, and the absence of vital goals. Low meaning in life has been found to be associated with depression (Psarra & Kleftaras, 2013;Volkert, Schulz, Brütt, & Andreas, 2014), hopelessness (García-Alandete et al, 2009), and suicide (Edwards & Holden, 2003), among other mental health problems, in a large number of studies (e.g. Mascaro & Rosen, 2005).…”