Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to conduct a mixed-methods investigation of meaning-making appraisals generated from spinal cord injury survivors' narratives of their injury experience. The sample consisted of 79 participants from an urban midwestern Veterans Affairs facility. The study design was cross-sectional and incorporated semistructured, face-to-face interviews, taking approximately 1 hr to complete. Measures of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, psychological well-being, and purpose in life were completed as part of the interview. A data analytic approach based on grounded theory that allowed qualitative themes to be transformed to quantitative data was employed. Seven salient meaningmaking themes were identified. Significant relationships were identified between certain meaningmaking themes (e.g., identity integration positively related to positive growth), and certain themes were also significantly related to postinjury psychological health and distress separately (e.g., perceived burden on others was significantly related to greater depression scores). Findings are discussed within the context of clinical interventions that foster positive posttrauma outcomes.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 186-193 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Psychological Services |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Depression
- Meaning making
- PTSD
- Psychological well-being
- Spinal cord injury
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Applied Psychology