title: How Do Meaning in Life and Positive Affect Relate to Adaptation to Stress? The Case of Firefighters Following the Mount Carmel Forest Fire.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We examined how positive affect (PA) and meaning in life (MIL) conjointly regulate posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and perceived coping self-efficacy. Hypotheses were guided by a recent holistic model, according to which PA and MIL should compensate for each other in relating to adaptation to high stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 75 Israeli firefighters who took active part in extinguishing the 2010 Mount Carmel forest fire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PA and MIL helped to compensate for the other, demonstrating that when one of them was low, the other related to higher adaptation. That is, under low MIL, PA related to PTSD symptoms and coping self-efficacy, and under low PA, MIL related to PTSD symptoms and coping self-efficacy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study design was cross-sectional and therefore precluded any causal inferences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings lend additional support to the holistic model and help to understand how subjective well-being and MIL correlate with adaptation to stress.
authors.affiliation: The Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shrira
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and the Herczeg Institute on Aging, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Dov
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shmotkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontology, University of Haifa. Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Yuval
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Palgi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Yechiel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Soffer
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Ariel University.
authors.forename: Yaira
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hamama Raz
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Ariel University.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tal-Katz
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Ariel University.
authors.forename: Menachem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ben-Ezra
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, CU Trauma, Health, and Hazards Center, University of Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Charles C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Benight
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D004190:Disasters; D061388:Firefighters / Q000523:psychology*; D065928:Forests; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*