Posttraumatic Growth in Individuals With Chronic Illness: The Role of Social Support and Meaning Making

2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Zeligman ◽  
Melanie Varney ◽  
Ramona I. Grad ◽  
Mary Huffstead
2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadaf Anjum ◽  
Shahina Maqbool

Purpose: The study investigates the role of hope and perceived social support in predicting posttraumatic growth among half-widows in Kashmir. Method: A correlational design was applied. The sample consists of 150 half widows with age ranging between (35-65) yrs, taken from Srinagar, Kupwara and Kulgam districts in Kashmir. Purposive sampling was the technique used for collection of data. Tools used: The Posttraumatic growth inventory developed by Tedeschi and Calhoun in 1996 is a 21-item, 6-point scale self-report measure. The summation of all 21 items yielded a total growth score which can range from 0 to 105. Higher scores were indicative of greater growth. In the present study, internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) of the total score was .96 and item-total correlations ranged from .59 to .82. The Trait Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991), comprising the 4-item Agency subscale and the 4-item Pathways subscale. Items are scored on an 8-point Likert scale, anchors ranging from ‘1 = Definitely False’ to ‘8 = Definitely True’. Both subscales have adequate internal reliability, with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .70 to .84 for the Agency subscale, and from .63 to .86 for the Pathways subscale (Snyder et al., 1991). Perceived Social Support was measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The MSPSS was developed by Zimet et al. (1988). The scale is a 12-item self-report measure for subjective assessment of experienced social support from three sources: Family, Friends, and Significant Other. Each item is rated on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. The total score ranges from 12 to 84 for the entire 12-item questionnaire and from 4 to 28 for each of the three subscales. For these three subscales higher scores indicate greater perceived social support. In the current study reliability coefficient of the scale is 0.89.


2014 ◽  
Vol 215 (2) ◽  
pp. 401-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongju Yu ◽  
Li Peng ◽  
Long Chen ◽  
Ling Long ◽  
Wei He ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Burnell ◽  
Nigel Hunt ◽  
Peter G. Coleman

Within clinical and health psychology, narrative is used to understand how people make meaning of events that challenge one’s believes about the self and the world e.g. the diagnosis of an illness or the experience of a traumatic event. This paper introduces a model of narrative analysis that can provide insight into the ways in which people make meaning of traumatic events and the types of resources that aid or hinder this process. The model, an adaptation of grounded narrative analysis (Murray, 2003), was applied at two levels (narrative form and narrative content) to the narratives of British male veterans of World War II (WWII) and post WWII veterans up to and including the Iraq war (2003– ). Narrative form concerned the coherence of the narrative, which was defined as an oriented, structured, affectively consistent, and integrated narrative, indicative of the reconciliation. Narrative content focused on the social support experiences of the veterans. Through this two level analysis, it was possible to make theoretical links between the types of social support that aid the meaning making process and help veterans to reconcile their experiences.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Shweta Tandon ◽  
Dr. Seema Mehrotra

Background: The diagnosis of cancer can shake the equanimity of the strongest individual and the onset of symptoms and eventual diagnosis are occasions for questions such as “Why me?”, “Why now?”, and “How did I get this illness?” Aims: The purpose of the present research on a sample of 103 recently diagnosed cancer patients was to investigate the extent of preoccupation with search for meaning, to document individual differences when one is confronted with a cancer diagnosis and to record changes if any in preoccupation during an interval of one month. Secondly to assess the role of religion/spirituality as well as social support in individual encounters with cancer by examining the effects of these two variables among individuals facing a common stressful situation. Lastly to examine relationship of search for meaning with psychological outcomes (anxiety, depression and quality of life). Results: The results indicated that individual differences did exist in the degree of preoccupation with “why me”, social support scores significantly differentiated between subgroups with different levels of preoccupation with “why me?” and that patients with highest engagement with “why me” had poorer quality of life and elevated distress levels. Conclusion: Findings highlighted the important role of meaning making issues and the need to address them in intervention. Secondly dialoguing with treating physicians regarding the important role of psychological variables and their relation to distress levels and quality of life.


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