An extension of the meaning making model using data from Chinese cancer patients: The moderating effect of resilience.

Abstract

Meaning making refers to the process of integrating the appraised meaning of a traumatic event into one's global belief system to reduce cognitive discrepancy. Park and Folkman (1997) proposed the renowned "meaning-making model," which was a major contribution to trauma research from a positive psychology viewpoint. This concept is important for understanding the trauma of cancer patients, as searching for meaning is fairly common after a cancer diagnosis. However, the original model did not incorporate individual differences in resilience, which might account for the fact that research on this model has produced contradictory results. This study recruited 146 Chinese cancer patients and used different scales to measure each stage of the meaning-making process, resilience, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and anxiety/depression symptoms. A follow-up study was conducted after 6 months. A structural equation model was constructed; meaning discrepancy triggered meaning making, predicted changes in situational and global beliefs, and ultimately resulted in better mental health outcomes. The moderating effect of resilience was noteworthy; the indirect effect of meaning making on the relationship between meaning discrepancy (Time 1 [T1]) and mental health outcomes (Time 2 [T2]) was significant in the low resilience group, but nonsignificant in the high resilience group. These results suggest that the effects of meaning-making processes may differ based on individual factors, such as resilience. (PsycINFO Database Record