Searching for and finding meaning in collective trauma: results from a national longitudinal study of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Searching for and finding meaning in collective trauma: results from a national longitudinal study of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
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DOI：
10.1037/0022-3514.95.3.709
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发表时间：
2008-09
影响因子：
7.6
通讯作者：
Holman EA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Updegraff JA;Silver RC;Holman EA
理解生活中事件的能力在逆境适应理论中占据着核心地位。然而，很少有严格的研究意义的作用，在调整，和那些已经进行了主要集中在直接的个人创伤。作者研究了美国人在一场广泛的文化剧变（2001年9月11日的恐怖袭击）中寻找和发现意义的预测因素和长期后果，其中包括美国成年人的全国概率样本（N = 931）。在9/11事件后2个月寻找意义是由人口统计学和高急性应激反应预测的。相反，发现意义主要是由人口统计学和具体的早期应对策略预测。在接下来的2年里，寻找意义预测了更大的创伤后应激（PTS）症状，发现意义预测了更低的PTS症状，即使在控制了9/11前的心理健康，暴露于9/11和急性应激反应之后。中介分析表明，找到意义有助于调整，减少对未来恐怖主义的恐惧。结果突出的意义在调整集体创伤后，打破人们的基本假设安全和无懈可击的作用。
The ability to make sense of events in one’s life has held a central role in theories of adaptation to adversity. However, there are few rigorous studies on the role of meaning in adjustment, and those that have been conducted have focused predominantly on direct personal trauma. The authors examined the predictors and long-term consequences of Americans’ searching for and finding meaning in a widespread cultural upheaval—the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001—among a national probability sample of U.S. adults (N = 931). Searching for meaning at 2 months post-9/11 was predicted by demographics and high acute stress response. In contrast, finding meaning was predicted primarily by demographics and specific early coping strategies. Whereas searching for meaning predicted greater posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms across the following 2 years, finding meaning predicted lower PTS symptoms, even after controlling for pre-9/11 mental health, exposure to 9/11, and acute stress response. Mediation analyses suggest that finding meaning supported adjustment by reducing fears of future terrorism. Results highlight the role of meaning in adjustment following collective traumas that shatter people’s fundamental assumptions about security and invulnerability.