Moderating Effect of Meanings-Made on the Relationship Between Exposure to Potentially Traumatic Life Events and Suicidal Ideation

Abstract

A majority of people experience potentially traumatic events but only a subsection develop negative psychological outcomes such as suicidal ideation. As these events may impact existing life-orienting systems, meaning-making processes are utilized to either assimilate new experiences into existing frameworks or revise existing schemas to accommodate novel incidents. The extent to which efficient meaning-making has occurred or the degree to which the events are integrated may be associated with the development of suicidal ideation. Therefore, this study investigated meanings-made as a moderator of the association between exposure to potentially traumatic life events and suicidal ideation. A total of 568 undergraduate students ( Mage = 19.85 years, 69.4% females) completed the online questionnaires. The analyses indicated a significant moderation supporting the hypothesis. The results highlight meaning-making processes as a potential target for interventions directed at the reduction of suicide risk, particularly in individuals exposed to traumatic events.

The relationship between anxiety and depression under the pandemic: The role of life meaning

“…Based on 204 university students in Slovakia, Halama and Bakosova (2009) showed that the overall sense of life meaning was a moderator of perceived stress with avoidance coping but not with emotional coping. Basu et al (2022) also reported that meaning-making moderated the impact of traumatic life events experienced and suicidal ideation in 568 undergraduate students. Finally, for a sample of 177 adolescents, Dulaney et al (2018) found a negative association between life meaning and depression symptoms, and life meaning moderated the impact of stress exposure on depression.…”