search for meaning

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine represent unprecedented global stressors with substantial consequences for mental health. Objective A repeated cross-sectional study was conducted in three independent Hungarian samples before COVID-19 ( N = 249), after the second wave of COVID-19 ( N = 265), and during the early phase of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine ( N = 148) to examine differences in meaning in life, coping competencies, and fear of death, as well as in the relationships among these constructs. The outbreak of the invasion during data collection provided a unique opportunity to examine these constructs during its early phase. Results Compared with the post-COVID sample, lower descriptive levels of fear of death were observed following the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Lower levels of several coping resources, particularly sense of coherence and social competencies, together with the greater relevance of search for meaning, were among the key findings associated with these unforeseen stressors. Stronger associations between coping and meaning in life were identified, while the association between presence of meaning and search for meaning became stronger following the outbreak of the invasion. Network analyses further suggested a closer integration of meaning-related processes with fear of death and coping resources, although these patterns should be interpreted cautiously given the limited stability of the network estimates. Conclusion The findings suggest that exposure to successive unforeseen large-scale stressors may be associated with the reorganization of meaning-related processes and coping resources. The patterns observed following the outbreak of the war may be interpreted within the framework of distal defense processes described by the terror management theory, although these mechanisms were not directly assessed in the present study. The results suggest that longer-term existential anxiety processes and their delayed psychological and social consequences should be considered when developing mental health interventions. These findings may contribute to the refinement of healthcare interventions across multiple levels and cultural contexts in preparation for current and future crises.

Objective This cross-sectional study (1) compared social support, psychological-capital dimensions, and both C-MLQ dimensions between students with and without visual impairments; and (2) among students with visual impairments, examined the association between social support and presence of meaning (C-MLQ-P) and tested the a priori hypothesized cross-sectional indirect association through hope. Self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism were examined exploratorily in descriptive/correlational and hierarchical-regression analyses. Methods Participants were 170 students with visual impairments and 294 students without visual impairments from a vocational college in China. They completed measures of social support, psychological capital, and meaning in life. Group differences were examined using MANCOVA with follow-up ANCOVAs. Among students with visual impairments, Pearson correlations and an exploratory hierarchical regression were conducted, and H3 was tested using a single cross-sectional indirect-effect model with social support (ASSS-Total) as the predictor, hope (PPQ-Hop) as the indirect variable, presence of meaning (C-MLQ-P) as the outcome, and age and sex as covariates. Results After adjustment for age and sex, students with visual impairments scored significantly lower on objective support, support utilization, self-efficacy, optimism, presence of meaning, and search for meaning than students without visual impairments, whereas no significant group differences were observed for subjective support, resilience, or hope. Among students with visual impairments, social support was positively associated with the presence of meaning (r = 0.56, p < 0.01). In the H3 model, the total association between social support and presence of meaning was 0.8912 (95% CI [0.6988, 1.0835]), the direct association was 0.3560 (95% CI [0.1655, 0.5465]), and the indirect association through hope was 0.5352 (BootSE = 0.0923, 95% bootstrap CI [0.3680, 0.7239]). Conclusions In this sample from a single Chinese vocational college, social support was positively associated with the presence of meaning, and a significant cross-sectional statistical indirect association was observed through hope. Because the data were cross-sectional, the observed indirect association does not establish temporal ordering or a causal mechanism. Longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to determine whether changes in social support precede changes in hope and presence of meaning.