Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: two construals of meaning

Title

Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: two construals of meaning

Creator

Davis CG; Nolen-Hoeksema S; Larson J

Publisher

Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology

Date

1998

Subject

Female; Humans; Male; Grief; Adult; Interpersonal Relations; Middle Aged; Social Adjustment; Cognition; Life Change Events; Spirituality; Analysis of Variance

Description

Theoretical models of the adjustment process following loss and trauma have emphasized the critical role that finding meaning plays. Yet evidence in support of these models is meager, and definitions of meaning have been too broad to facilitate a clear understanding of the psychological process involved. Using a prospective and longitudinal study of people coping with the loss of a family member, we differentiate 2 construals of meaning--making sense of the event and finding benefit in the experience--and demonstrate that both independently play roles in the adjustment process following the loss. Results indicate that making sense of the loss is associated with less distress, but only in the 1st year postloss, whereas reports of benefit finding are most strongly associated with adjustment at interviews 13 and 18 months postloss.
1998

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Type

Journal Article

Citation List Month

Backlog

Citation

Davis CG; Nolen-Hoeksema S; Larson J, “Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: two construals of meaning,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 29, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/12166.