title: The role of meaning-focused coping in significant loss.
abstract: When individuals face uncontrollable situations such as natural disasters, meaning-focused coping (MFC) can contribute to individuals' adjustment. The objectives of the current study were to examine the role of MFC in post-traumatic growth and to explore how three different types of coping (problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and MFC) affected the mental health of earthquake victims following the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that MFC had a significantly incremental value in predicting positive affect (ΔR2=7.6%, p<.01) and well-being (ΔR2=3.1%, p<.01), above and beyond problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping. In contrast, for negative affect and depression, these incremental effects were not significant. Path analysis was conducted to test the mediating role of post-traumatic growth among the three coping styles and the outcome variables (well-being, positive affect, negative affect, and depression). The results showed that post-traumatic growth mediated the path from MFC to well-being and positive affect (for positive affect: Sobel z = 3.74, p<.001; for well-being: Sobel z = 5.02, p<.001). In addition, post-traumatic growth mediated the path from problem-focused coping to depression (Sobel z = 2.21, p<.001). The hypothetical model of emotion-focused coping did not converge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Peking University, No. 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Mingzhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Yiqun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tong
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult