Trauma and Meaning Making: Converging Conceptualizations and Emerging Evidence

Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

Meaning is central in human life, particularly when individuals confront highly stressful and traumatic life experiences. This chapter provides an overview of current conceptual and empirical work on meaning in the context of trauma and reviews evidence regarding seven meaning-related propositions: (1) People possess orienting systems (global meaning) that provide them with cognitive tools to interpret their experiences and motivate their functioning in the world. (2) People appraise the situations that they encounter, assigning a meaning to them. (3) The extent to which that appraised meaning is discrepant with their global meaning determines the extent to which they experience distress. (4) The distress caused by discrepancy initiates a process of meaning making. (5) There are many ways to make meaning. (6) Through meaning making, individuals reduce the discrepancy between appraised and global meaning and restore a sense of the world as meaningful and their own lives as worthwhile. (7) Meaning making, when successful, leads to better adjustment to the stressful event. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research.

Keywords

Traumatic Event Asperger Syndrome Religious Coping Intrusive Thought Good Adjustment 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Aldwin CM (2007) Stress, coping, and development: an integrative approach. Guilford, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  2. Armour M (2003) Meaning making in the aftermath of homicide. Death Stud 27:519–540PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Austin JT, Vancouver JB (1996) Goal constructs in psychology: structure, process, and content. Psychol Bull 120:338–375CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Boehmer S, Luszczynska A, Schwarzer R (2007) Coping and quality of life after tumor surgery: personal and social resources promote different domains of quality of life. Anxiety Stress Coping 20:61–75PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Boersma SN, Maes S, van Elderen T (2005) Goal disturbance predicts health-related quality of life and depression 4 months after myocardial infarction. Br J Health Psychol 10:615–630PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Bonanno GA, Kaltman S (1999) Toward an integrative perspective on bereavement. Psychol Bull 125:760–776PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Bonanno GA, Wortman CB, Nesse RM (2004) Prospective patterns of resilience and maladjustment during widowhood. Psychol Aging 19:260–271PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Bower JE, Kemeny ME, Taylor SE, Fahey JL (1998) Cognitive processing, discovery of meaning, CD4 decline, and AIDS-related mortality among bereaved HIV-seropositive men. J Consult Clin Psychol 66:979–986PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Brandtstädter J (2002) Searching for paths to successful development and aging: integrating developmental and action-theoretical perspectives. In: Pulkkinen L, Caspi A (eds) Paths to successful development: personality in the life course. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 380–408CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Brandtstädter J (2006) Adaptive resources in later life: tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment. In: Csikszentmihalyi M, Csikszentmihalyi IS (eds) A life worth living: contributions to positive psychology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 143–164Google Scholar
  11. Bulman RJ, Wortman CB (1977) Attributions of blame and coping in the ‘real world’: severe accident victims react to their lot. J Pers Soc Psychol 35:351–363PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Buunk AP, Gibbons FX (2007) Social comparison: the end of a theory and the emergence of a field. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 102:3–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Calhoun LG, Tedeschi RG (eds) (2006) Handbook of posttraumatic growth: research & practice. Erlbaum, MahwahGoogle Scholar
  14. Cann A, Calhoun LG, Tedeschi RG, Triplett KN, Vishnevsky T, Lindstrom CM (2011) Assessing posttraumatic cognitive processes: the event related rumination inventory. Anxiety Stress Coping 24:137–156PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Carver CS, Scheier MF (1998) On the self-regulation of behavior. Cambridge University Press, New YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Cason DR, Resick PA, Weaver TL (2002) Schematic integration of traumatic events. Clin Psychol Rev 22:131–153PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Christiansen CR (2006) Sense-making and entrepreneurial coalition building: a case of competing interests, cultural barriers, and interorganizational relations in a nonprofit health plan. Int J Public Adm 29:501–515CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Collie K, Long BC (2005) Considering “meaning” in the context of breast cancer. J Health Psychol 10:843–853PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Coward DD, Kahn DL (2005) Transcending breast cancer: making meaning from diagnosis and treatment. J Holist Nurs 23:264–283PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Creamer M, Burgess P, Pattison P (1992) Reaction to trauma: a cognitive processing model. J Abnorm Psychol 101:452–459PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Currier J, Holland J, Neimeyer R (2006) Sense-making, grief, and the experience of violent loss: toward a mediational model. Death Stud 30:403–428PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Daaleman T, Kaufman JS (2006) Spirituality and depressive symptoms in primary care outpatients. South Med J 99:1340–1344PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Dalgleish T (2004) Cognitive approaches to posttraumatic stress disorder: the evolution of multirepresentational theorizing. Psychol Bull 130:228–260PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Davis CG, Morgan M (2008) Finding meaning, perceiving growth, and acceptance of tinnitus. Rehabil Psychol 53:128–138CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Davis CG, Nolen-Hoeksema S, Larson J (1998) Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: two construals of meaning. J Pers Soc Psychol 75:561–574PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Davis C, Wortman CB, Lehman DR, Silver R (2000) Searching for meaning in loss: are clinical assumptions correct? Death Stud 24:497–540PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Dittman-Kohli F, Westerhof GJ (1999) The personal meaning system in a life-span perspective. In: Reker GT, Chamberlain K (eds) Exploring existential meaning: optimizing human development across the life span. Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp 107–122Google Scholar
  28. Dollinger SJ (1986) The need for meaning following disaster: attributions and emotional upset. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 12:300–310CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Emmons RA (2003) Personal goals, life meaning, and virtue: wellsprings of a positive life. In: Keyes CLM, Haidt J (eds) Flourishing: positive psychology and the life well-lived. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 105–128CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Everly GSJ, Lating JM (2004) Personality-guided therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. American Psychological Association, Washington, DCCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Evers AW, Kraaimaat FW, van Lankveld W, Jongen PJ, Jacobs JW, Bijlsma JW (2001) Beyond unfavorable thinking: the illness cognition questionnaire for chronic diseases. J Consult Clin Psychol 69:1026–1036PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Fife BL (2005) The role of constructed meaning in adaptation to the onset of life-threatening illness. Soc Sci Med 61:2132–2143PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Fillip SH (1999) A three-stage model of coping with loss and trauma. In: Maercker A, Schutzwohl M, Solomon Z (eds) Posttraumatic stress disorder: a lifespan development perspective. Hogrefe & Huber, Seattle, pp 43–78Google Scholar
  34. Foa EB, Ehlers A, Clark DM, Tolin DF, Orsillo SM (1999) The Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI): development and validation. Psychol Assess 11:303–314CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Foa EB, Huppert JD, Cahill SP (2006) Emotional processing theory: an update. In: Rothbaum BO (ed) Pathological anxiety: emotional processing in etiology and treatment. Guilford, New York, pp 3–24Google Scholar
  36. Folkman S (1997) Positive psychological states and coping with severe stress. Soc Sci Med 45:1207–1221PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Folkman S, Moskowitz JT (2007) Positive affect and meaning-focused coping during significant psychological stress. In: Hewstone M et al (eds) The scope of social psychology: theory and applications. Psychology Press, New York, pp 193–208Google Scholar
  38. Frazier P, Tashiro T, Berman M, Steger M, Long J (2004) Correlates of levels and patterns of positive life changes following sexual assault. J Consult Clin Psychol 72:19–30PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Gale R (1986) The multicultural city and the politics of religious architecture: urban planning, mosques and meaning-making in Birmingham, UK. Built Environ 30:18–32Google Scholar
  40. Gillies J, Neimeyer RA (2006) Loss, grief, and the search for significance: toward a model of meaning reconstruction in bereavement. J Constr Psychol 19:31–65Google Scholar
  41. Gray MJ, Maguen S, Litz BT (2007) Schema constructs and cognitive models of posttraumatic stress disorder. In: Riso LP et al (eds) Cognitive schemas and core beliefs in psychological problems: a scientist-practitioner guide. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 59–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Greenberg MA (1995) Cognitive processing of traumas: the role of intrusive thoughts and reappraisals. J Appl Soc Psychol 25:1262–1295CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Grossman FK, Sorsoli L, Kia-Keating M (2006) A gale force wind: meaning making by male survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Am J Orthopsychiatry 76:434–443PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Hayes AM, Laurenceau J, Feldman G, Strauss JL, Cardaciotto L (2007) Change is not always linear: the study of nonlinear and discontinuous patterns of change in psychotherapy. Clin Psychol Rev 27:715–723PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Heine SJ, Proulx T, Vohs KD (2006) The meaning maintenance model: on the coherence of social motivations. Pers Soc Psychol Rev 10:88–110PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Helgeson VS, Reynolds KA, Tomich PL (2006) A meta-analytic review of benefit finding and growth. J Consult Clin Psychol 74:797–816PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Hembree EA, Foa EB (2000) Posttraumatic stress disorder: psychological factors and psychosocial interventions. J Clin Psychiatry 61:33–39PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  48. Holland JM, Currier JM, Coleman RA, Neimeyer RA (2010) The integration of stressful life experiences scale (ISLES): development and initial validation of a new measure. Int J Stress Manag 17:325–352CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Horowitz M (1975) Intrusive and repetitive thoughts after experimental stress. Arch Gen Psychiatry 32:1457–1463PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  50. Horowitz MJ (1986) Stress-response syndromes: a review of posttraumatic and adjustment disorders. Hosp Community Psychiatry 37:241–249PubMedGoogle Scholar
  51. Hyun KS, Kjervik D, Belyea M, Choi ES (2011) Personal strength and finding meaning in conjugally bereaved older adults: a four-year prospective analysis. Death Stud 35:197–218CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  52. Janoff-Bulman R (1989) Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events: applications of the schema construct. Soc Cognit 7:113–136CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  53. Janoff-Bulman R, Frantz CM (1997) The impact of trauma on meaning: from meaningless world to meaningful life. In: Power MJ, Brewin CR (eds) The transformation of meaning in psychological therapies: integrating theory and practice. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 91–106Google Scholar
  54. Janoff-Bulman R, Frieze IH (1983) A theoretical perspective for understanding reactions to victimization. J Soc Issues 39:1–17CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  55. Jim HS, Richardson SA, Golden-Kreutz DM, Andersen BL (2006) Strategies used in coping with a cancer diagnosis predict meaning in life for survivors. Health Psychol 25:753–761PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  56. Jin Y (2010) Making sense sensibly in crisis communication: how publics’ crisis appraisals influence their negative emotions, coping strategy preferences, and crisis response. Accept Commun Res 37:522–552CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  57. Joseph S, Linley PA (2005) Positive adjustment to threatening events: an organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity. Rev Gen Psychol 9:262–280CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  58. Karoly P (1999) A goal systems-self-regulatory perspective on personality, psychopathology, and change. Rev Gen Psychol 3:264–291CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. Kellas JK, Trees AR (2006) Finding meaning in difficult family experiences: sense-making and interaction processes during joint family storytelling. J Fam Commun 6:49–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. King LA, Hicks JA, Krull JL, Del Gaiso AK (2006) Positive affect and the experience of meaning in life. J Pers Soc Psychol 90:179–196PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  61. Kliewer W, Sullivan TN (2008) Community violence exposure, threat appraisal, and adjustment in adolescents. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 37:860–873PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  62. Klinger E (1977) Meaning & void: inner experience and the incentives in people’s lives. University of Minnesota Press, OxfordGoogle Scholar
  63. Klinger E (1998) The search for meaning in evolutionary perspective and its clinical implications. In: Wong PTP, Fry PS (eds) The human quest for meaning: a handbook of psychological research and clinical applications. Erlbaum, Mahwah, pp 27–50Google Scholar
  64. Koltko-Rivera ME (2004) The psychology of worldviews. Rev Gen Psychol 8:3–58CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  65. Koss MP, Figueredo AJ (2004) Change in cognitive mediators of rape’s impact on psychosocial health across 2 years of recovery. J Consult Clin Psychol 72:1063–1072PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  66. Kuijer RG, de Ridder DTD (2003) Discrepancy in illness-related goals and quality of life in chronically ill patients: the role of self-efficacy. Psychol Health 18:313–330CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  67. Lazarus RS (1991) Cognition and motivation in emotion. Am Psychol 46:352–367PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  68. Lazarus RS (1993) Coping theory and research: past, present, and future. Psychosom Med 55:234–247PubMedGoogle Scholar
  69. Leary MR, Tangney JP (2003) The self as an organizing construct in the behavioral sciences. In: Leary MR, Tangney JP (eds) Handbook of self and identity. Guilford, New York, pp 3–14Google Scholar
  70. Lee V, Cohen SR, Edgar L, Laizner AM, Gagnon AJ (2004) Clarifying “meaning” in the context of cancer research: a systematic literature review. Palliat Support Care 2:291–303PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  71. Lepore SJ (2001) A social-cognitive processing model of emotional adjustment to cancer. In: Baum A, Andersen BL (eds) Psychosocial interventions for cancer. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 99–116CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  72. Lepore SJ, Helgeson VS (1998) Social constraints, intrusive thoughts, and mental health after prostate cancer. J Soc Clin Psychol 17:89–106CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  73. Lepore SJ, Silver RC, Wortman CB, Wayment HA (1996) Social constraints, intrusive thoughts, and depressive symptoms among bereaved mothers. J Pers Soc Psychol 70:271–282PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  74. Lequerica AH, Forchheimer M, Albright KJ, Tate DG, Duggan CH, Rahman RO (2010) Stress appraisal in women with spinal cord injury: supplementary findings through mixed methods. Int J Stress Manag 17:259–275CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  75. Littleton HL, Magee KT, Axsom D (2007) A meta-analysis of self-attributions following three types of trauma: sexual victimization, illness, and injury. J Appl Soc Psychol 37:515–553CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  76. McGregor I, Little BR (1998) Personal projects, happiness, and meaning: on doing well and being yourself. J Pers Soc Psychol 74:494–512PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  77. McIntosh DN, Silver RC, Wortman CB (1993) Religion’s role in adjustment to a negative life event: coping with the loss of a child. J Pers Soc Psychol 65:812–821PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  78. Mendoza-Denton R, Hansen N (2007) Networks of meaning: intergroup relations, cultural worldviews, and knowledge activation principles. Soc Pers Psychol Compass 1:68–83CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  79. Michael ST, Snyder CR (2005) Getting unstuck: the roles of hope, finding meaning, and rumination in the adjustment to bereavement among college students. Death Stud 29:435–458PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  80. Mikulincer M, Florian V (1996) Coping and adaptation to trauma and loss. In: Zeidner M, Endler N (eds) Handbook of coping: theory, research, applications. Wiley, Oxford, pp 554–572Google Scholar
  81. Mischel W, Morf CC (2003) The self as a psycho-social dynamic processing system: a meta- perspective on a century of the self in psychology. In: Leary MR, Tangney JP (eds) Handbook of self and identity. Guilford, New York, pp 15–43Google Scholar
  82. Neimeyer RA (2001) The language of loss: grief therapy as a process of meaning reconstruction. In: Neimeyer RA (ed) Meaning reconstruction and the experience of loss. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 261–292CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  83. Neimeyer RA (2002) Traumatic loss and the reconstruction of meaning. J Palliat Med 5:935–942PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  84. Pakenham KI (2007) Making sense of multiple sclerosis. Rehabil Psychol 52:380–389CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  85. Pakenham KI, Sofronoff K, Samios C (2004) Finding meaning in parenting a child with Asperger syndrome: correlates of sense making and benefit finding. Res Dev Disabil 25:245–264PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  86. Pargament KI (1997) The psychology of religion and coping: theory, research, practice. Guilford, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  87. Park CL (2005a) Religion and meaning. In: Paloutzian RF, Park CL (eds) Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. Guilford, New York, pp 295–314Google Scholar
  88. Park CL (2005b) Religion as a meaning-making framework in coping with life stress. J Soc Issues 61:707–729CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  89. Park CL (2008) Testing the meaning making model of coping with loss. J Soc Clin Psychol 27:970–994CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  90. Park CL (2009) Overview of theoretical perspectives. In: Park CL, Lechner S, Antoni MH, Stanton A (eds) Positive life change in the context of medical illness: can the experience of serious illness lead to transformation? American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 11–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  91. Park CL (2010a) Making sense of the meaning literature: an integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychol Bull 136:257–301PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  92. Park CL (2010b) Stress, coping, and meaning. In: Folkman S (ed) Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 227–241Google Scholar
  93. Park CL (2013) Positive psychology perspectives across the cancer continuum: meaning, spirituality, and growth. In: Steel J, Carr B (eds) Psychological aspects of cancer. Springer, New York, pp 101–118CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  94. Park CL, Blumberg CJ (2002) Disclosing trauma through writing: testing the meaning-making hypothesis. Cognit Ther Res 26:597–616CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  95. Park CL, Folkman S (1997) Meaning in the context of stress and coping. Rev Gen Psychol 1:115–144CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  96. Park CL, Folkman S, Bostrom A (2001) Appraisals of controllability and coping in caregivers and HIV + men: testing the goodness-of-fit hypothesis. J Consult Clin Psychol 69:481–488PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  97. Park CL, Aldwin CM, Fenster JR, Snyder L (2008a) Coping with September 11th: post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth in a national sample. Am J Orthopsychiatry 78:300–312PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  98. Park CL, Edmondson D, Fenster JR, Blank TO (2008b) Meaning making and psychological adjustment following cancer: the mediating roles of growth, life meaning, and restored just-world beliefs. J Consult Clin Psychol 76:863–875PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  99. Park CL, Malone M, Suresh DP, Bliss D, Rosen R (2008c) Coping, meaning in life, and quality of life in congestive heart failure patients. Qual Life Res 17:21–26PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  100. Park CL, Lechner S, Antoni M, Stanton A (eds) (2009) Positive life change in the context of medical illness: can the experience of serious illness lead to transformation? American Psychological Association, Washington, DCGoogle Scholar
  101. Park CL, Bharadwaj AK, Blank TO (2011) Illness centrality, disclosure, and well-being in younger adult cancer survivors. Br J Health Psychol 16(4):880–889PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  102. Park CL, Mills M, Edmondson D (2012) PTSD as meaning violation: a test of a cognitive worldview perspective. Psychol Trauma 4(1):66–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  103. Parkes CM (1993) Bereavement as a psychosocial transition: processes of adaptation to change. In: Stroebe MS, Stroebe W, Hansson RO (eds) Handbook of bereavement: theory, research, and intervention. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 91–101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  104. Proulx T, Heine SJ (2007) Death and black diamonds: meaning, mortality, and the meaning maintenance model. Psychol Inq 7:309–318Google Scholar
  105. Randles D, Proulx T, Heine SJ (2011) Turn-frogs and careful-sweaters: non-conscious perception of incongruous word pairings provokes fluid compensation. J Exp Soc Psychol 47:246–249CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  106. Rasmussen HN, Wrosch C, Scheier MF, Carver CS (2006) Self-regulation processes and health: the importance of optimism and goal adjustment. J Pers 74:1721–1747PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  107. Reker GT, Wong PTP (1988) Aging as an individual process: toward a theory of personal meaning. In: Birren JE, Bengston VL (eds) Emergent theories of aging. Springer, New York, pp 214–246Google Scholar
  108. Resick PA, Galovski TE, Uhlmansiek MO, Scher CD, Clum GA, Young-Xu Y (2008) A randomized clinical trial to dismantle components of cognitive processing therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in female victims of interpersonal violence. J Consult Clin Psychol 76:243–258PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  109. Roesch SC, Weiner B (2001) A meta-analytic review of coping with illness: do causal attributions matter? J Psychosom Res 50:205–219PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  110. Russell CS, White MB, White CP (2006) Why me? Why now? Why multiple sclerosis?: making meaning and perceived quality of life in a midwestern sample of patients with multiple sclerosis. Fam Syst Health 24:65–81CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  111. Sawyer A, Ayers S, Field AP (2010) Posttraumatic growth and adjustment among individuals with cancer or HIV/AIDS: a meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev 30:436–447PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  112. Scheppele KL, Bart PB (1983) Through women’s eyes: defining danger in the wake of sexual assault. J Soc Issues 39:63–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  113. Schroevers M, Kraaij V, Garnefski N (2007) Goal disturbance, cognitive coping strategies, and psychological adjustment to different types of stressful life event. Pers Individ Differ 43:413–423CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  114. Silver R, Boon C, Stones M (1983) Searching for meaning in misfortune: making sense of incest. J Soc Issues 39:81–101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  115. Skaggs BG, Barron CR (2006) Searching for meaning in negative events: concept analysis. J Adv Nurs 53:559–570PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  116. Steger MF, Park CL (2012) The creation of meaning following trauma: meaning making and trajectories of distress and recovery. In: McMackin RA, Keane TM, Newman E, Fogler JM (eds) Toward an integrated approach to trauma focused therapy: placing evidence-based interventions in an expanded psychological context. American Psychological Association Press, Washington, DC, pp 171–191Google Scholar
  117. Sweeney K (2008) Crisis decision theory: decisions in the face of negative events. Psychol Bull 134:61–76PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  118. Taylor SE (1983) Adjustment to threatening events: a theory of cognitive adaptation. Am Psychol 38:1161–1171CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  119. Taylor SE, Wood JV, Lichtman RR (1983) It could be worse: selective evaluation as a response to victimization. J Soc Issues 39:19–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  120. Tennen H, Affleck G (2002) Benefit-finding and benefit-reminding. In: Snyder CR, Lopez SJ (eds) Handbook of positive psychology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 584–597Google Scholar
  121. Thompson SC (1985) Finding positive meaning in a stressful event and coping. Basic Appl Soc Psychol 6:279–295CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  122. Thompson S, Janigian A (1988) Life schemes: a framework for understanding the search for meaning. J Soc Clin Psychol 7:260–280CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  123. Updegraff JA, Silver RC, Holman EA (2008) Searching for and finding meaning in collective trauma: results from a national longitudinal study of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. J Pers Soc Psychol 95:709–722PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  124. Vallacher RR, Wegner DM (1987) What do people think they’re doing? Action identification and human behavior. Psychol Rev 94:3–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  125. Van Der Veek S, Kraaij V, Van Koppen W, Garnefski N, Joekes K (2007) Goal disturbance, cognitive coping and psychological distress in HIV-infected persons. J Health Psychol 12:225–230PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  126. Watkins ER (2008) Constructive and unconstructive repetitive thought. Psychol Bull 134:163–206PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  127. Westphal M, Bonanno GA (2007) Posttraumatic growth and resilience to trauma: different sides of the same coin or different coins? Appl Psychol Int Rev 56:417–427CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  128. White CA (2004) Meaning and its measurement in psychosocial oncology. Psychooncology 13:468–481PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  129. White K, Lehman DR (2005) Looking on the bright side: downward counterfactual thinking in response to negative life events. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 31:1413–1424PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  130. Wood W, Conway M (2006) Subjective impact, meaning making, and current and recalled emotions for self-defining memories. J Pers 74:811–845PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  131. Wortman CB, Silver RC (1987) Coping with irrevocable loss. In: VandenBos GR, Bryant BK (eds) Cataclysms, crises, and catastrophes: psychology in action. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 185–235CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  132. Wright MO, Crawford E, Sebastian K (2007) Positive resolution of childhood sexual abuse experiences: the role of coping, benefit-finding and meaning-making. J Fam Violence 22:597–608CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  133. Wrosch C, Heckhausen J, Lachman ME (2006) Goal management across adulthood and old age: the adaptive value of primary and secondary control. In: Mroczek DK, Little TD (eds) Handbook of personality development. Erlbaum, Mahwah, pp 399–421Google Scholar
  134. Wu L, Bonanno G, DuHamel K, Redd WH, Rini C, Austin J et al (2008) Pre-bereavement meaning and post-bereavement distress in mothers of children who underwent haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Br J Health Psychol 13:419–433PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of PsychologyUniversity of ConnecticutStorrsUSA

Personalised recommendations