title: Memories of Holocaust-related traumatic experiences, sense of coherence, and survivors' subjective well-being in late life: some puzzling findings.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study explores the nexus of relationships between memories of Holocaust-related early traumatic events, survivors' sense of coherence (SOC), and subjective well-being (SWB) in late life.
  
  
  METHODS
  The basic design of this study, based 106 survivors (54% female), was cross-sectional.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants underwent an extensive in-depth clinical interview relating to their Holocaust experiences and responded to measures of SOC and SWB.
  
  
  RESULTS
  These data provided no evidence for the moderating or "buffering" effect of SOC but showed support for indirect effects of SOC in the relationship between memory traces of specific traumatic experiences and adaptive outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the present study provide support for Antonovsky's salutogenic perspective. It is highly plausible that survivors who underwent severe experiences during the Holocaust period were forced to call upon all their inner strengths and coping resources,and that their success in doing so and also surviving this horrendous period, might have contributed to the development of a stronger sense of meaning and coherence, which, in turn lead to a better sense of mental health as they approach the final season of their lives.
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory for Research in Personality, Emotions, and Individual Differences , University of Haifa , Haifa 31905 , Israel.
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeidner
authors.forename: Eynat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aharoni-David
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D017767:Holocaust / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Holocaust; long-term trauma; sense of coherence; subjective well-being; survivors; traumatic memories