Meaning-Making Predicts Forgiveness as an Indicator of Posttraumatic Growth with a Stronger Effect for Natural Disasters

Abstract

Trauma is a growing public health concern as global crises increase. Trauma can result in significant adverse psychological outcomes such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Past research indicates that forgiveness may buffer the adverse psychological effects of trauma. We hypothesized that restoring individual and collective sense of meaning promotes forgiveness toward self and others and enables posttraumatic growth (PTG). Established PTG models posit that meaning can be found in surviving a traumatic event. We propose that PTG manifests as forgiveness in the face of both natural and humanmade disasters. Data were collected from individuals ( N = 3,534) in 11 countries from diverse global regions that have experienced collective traumas. Our study examined the predictive nature of meaning in life and PTSD symptoms on forgiveness. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that trauma and meaning significantly predicted forgiveness, with a larger effect for humanmade disasters. Results indicated that presence of meaning, but not search for meaning, plays a role in PTG as measured by the ability to forgive after experiencing trauma, thus demonstrating its possible centrality to the healing process. Interventions and community-based programs that foster meaning-making following trauma may be part of an effective multicultural approach for enhancing community-wide PTG and resilience following disasters.

Meaning in challenging times: how we might respond to the global COVID-19 pandemic?

“…Similar to how meaning-making can lead to better adjustment for people after natural disasters (Cameron et al , 2022; Park, 2016), terrorist attacks (Park et al , 2012) and wars (Matos et al , 2021), being able to make sense of life during COVID-19 provides some relief of the distress caused by the pandemic. Consistent with the literature on the benefits of meaning-making, recent evidence shows that meaning-making can not only serve as a protective factor but also function as an effective coping mechanism during COVID-19 across nations, ethnicities and ages.…”

Mapping structural covariance networks in children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder after earthquake

“…In summary, covariance networks found were centered on six key regions, and representative images are shown in (5) of seed regions including the left STG, right IPL, and left ITG with the bilateral PCC (Figure 3E); (6) of seed regions including the left insula and precentral gyrus with the bilateral precuneus (Figure 3F). All these findings survived the p-RFT < 0.05 correction.…”

“…Prior findings have suggested that children and adolescents are more vulnerable to developing PTSD after catastrophic events than are adults ( 4 , 5 ). As a collective trauma caused by natural disasters, earthquakes have caused more extensive trauma to the public representing the negative impact on social processes at the collective level compared to individual crisis events ( 6 ). The devastating Wenchuan 8.0-magnitude earthquake resulted in heavy casualties and seriously affected approximately 46 million people, of whom a considerable number were suffering from PTSD ( 7 ).…”