Temporal associations between meaning in life, ultimate meaning struggles, and mental health outcomes in a spiritually integrated inpatient program

IF 2.5 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

Journal of Clinical Psychology Pub Date : 2024-02-26 DOI:10.1002/jclp.23666

Joseph M. Currier, Elizabeth M. Bounds, Hiroki Matsuo, Charlotte vanOyen Witvliet, Alexis D. Abernethy, Karl VanHarn, Sarah A. Schnitker

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Meaning in life is a benchmark indicator of flourishing that can likely mitigate the severity of depression symptoms among persons seeking mental healthcare. However, patients contending with serious mental health difficulties often experience a painful void or absence of ultimate meaning in their lives that might hinder recovery. This two-wave longitudinal study examined temporal associations between perceived presence of meaning in life, struggles with ultimate meaning, flourishing, and depression symptoms among adults in a spiritually integrated inpatient treatment program.

Methods

Of the 242 patients assessed at intake, 90% (N = 218; 40% Cisgender male; 57% Cisgender female; 3.0% nonbinary) completed validated measures of these meaning-related factors and mental health outcomes at discharge.

Results

Cross-sectional analyses revealed perceptions of meaning in life and ultimate meaning struggles were inversely linked with one another along with being associated with indices of positive and negative mental health in varying ways at the start and end of treatment. Drawing upon a two-wave cross-lagged panel design, longitudinal structural equation modeling analyses supported a Primary Meaning Model whereby having a subjective sense of meaning in life at intake was prospectively linked with lower levels of ultimate meaning struggles and greater flourishing at discharge. However, baseline levels of mental health outcomes were not predictive of the meaning-related factors in this sample.

Conclusion

Findings highlight the utility of assessing patients' perceived meaning in life and ultimate meaning struggles in spiritually integrated programs and for clinicians to be prepared to possibly address these meaning-related concerns in the treatment process.

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精神综合住院计划中人生意义、终极意义挣扎与心理健康结果之间的时间关联。

背景：人生意义是衡量一个人生活是否富足的基准指标，它有可能减轻寻求心理保健者抑郁症状的严重程度。然而，面临严重心理健康问题的患者往往会体验到痛苦的空虚感，或者在他们的生活中缺乏终极意义，这可能会阻碍他们的康复。这项分为两个阶段的纵向研究考察了接受精神综合住院治疗项目的成年人在感知生命意义的存在、与终极意义的抗争、蓬勃发展和抑郁症状之间的时间关联：在入院时接受评估的 242 名患者中，90%（N = 218；40% 顺性别男性；57% 顺性别女性；3.0% 非二元性）完成了这些意义相关因素和出院时心理健康结果的有效测量：横截面分析表明，在治疗开始和结束时，生活意义感和终极意义挣扎之间存在反向联系，并以不同方式与积极和消极心理健康指数相关联。利用两波交叉滞后面板设计，纵向结构方程建模分析支持 "主要意义模型"（Primary Meaning Model），即入院时对生活意义的主观感知与出院时较低的终极意义挣扎水平和较高的蓬勃发展水平相关联。然而，心理健康结果的基线水平并不能预测该样本中与意义相关的因素：研究结果凸显了在精神整合项目中评估患者感知到的生命意义和终极意义挣扎的实用性，临床医生应做好准备，以便在治疗过程中解决这些与意义相关的问题。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Clinical Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

3.30%

发文量

177

期刊介绍： Founded in 1945, the Journal of Clinical Psychology is a peer-reviewed forum devoted to research, assessment, and practice. Published eight times a year, the Journal includes research studies; articles on contemporary professional issues, single case research; brief reports (including dissertations in brief); notes from the field; and news and notes. In addition to papers on psychopathology, psychodiagnostics, and the psychotherapeutic process, the journal welcomes articles focusing on psychotherapy effectiveness research, psychological assessment and treatment matching, clinical outcomes, clinical health psychology, and behavioral medicine.