| dc.description.abstract | Although researchers are now able to assess reliably the variable of existential meaning,
quality longitudinal investigations of meaning's relationship with specific clinical variables are
scarce. The author conceptualizes existential meaning as a composite of personal, spiritual, and
implicit meaning. These latter three variables are, respectively, the experience of one's particular
life as having purpose and coherence, experiencing a transcendent or spiritual presence from
which one derives a sense of unique purpose, and manifesting attitudes and behavior that are
normatively valued. Utilizing a sample of 395 male and female undergraduates and employing
the framework subscale of the Life Regard Index-Revised (LRI-R-framework), the Spiritual
Meaning Scale (SMS), and the Personal Meaning Profile (PMP) to measure personal, spiritual,
and implicit meaning, respectively, the author explored existential meaning's relationship over
time with depressive symptoms (as measured with the Beck Depression Inventory-II, depression
scale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and depression scale of the Personality
Assessment Inventory) and hope (as measured with the Herth Hope Scale, the Adult State Hope
Scale, and the Beck Hopelessness Scale). A latent cross-lagged panel analysis of the relationship
between meaning and depression over 2 one-month time periods indicated that meaning exerted
unidirectional influence on depression, with decreases in meaning leading to increases in
depressive symptoms. Additionally, hierarchical regression analysis showed that individuals with low levels of existential meaning were more likely than those with higher meaning levels to
experience increased symptoms of depression in response to increased stress levels. Because the
newly developed SMS (appended to this paper) was the only meaning measure exhibiting
sufficient discriminant validity with regard to hope, only the SMS was entered in cross-lagged
panel analysis measuring its relationship to hope over the 2 one-month periods of time, with
results indicating that spiritual meaning and hope reciprocally influence one another. Existential
meaning seems appropriately conceptualized as a construct consisting of personal, spiritual, and
implicit components. Because this construct can be assessed reliably and may play a role in the
etiology and alleviation of depressive symptoms, the author calls for increased research within
clinical settings on methods for optimizing individuals' levels of existential meaning. | en |
