Battersby Annabel, Phillips Lisa
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia
Int J Aging Hum Dev. 2016 Jul;83(2):184-204. doi: 10.1177/0091415016647731. Epub 2016 May 9.
This study explored psychological well-being in Australian adults with a particular focus on meaning in life. Older adults (N = 57) reported lower levels of search for meaning and higher levels of presence of meaning than young adults (N = 208) suggesting that both groups were able to distinguish between the two aspects of meaning. For older adults, higher presence was associated with better mental health and well-being outcomes, regardless of level of search. For the young adults, higher presence and lower search was associated with better outcomes. These results suggest that presence of meaning is an important aspect of well-being for older adults living in a high income English-speaking country and may be an important focus when working with depressed or anxious older adults, while both presence of, and search for meaning may be more meaningful therapeutic targets when working with depressed or anxious younger adults. Theoretical implications are discussed.
本研究探讨了澳大利亚成年人的心理健康状况，特别关注生活意义。与年轻成年人（N = 208）相比，年长成年人（N = 57）报告称其寻求意义的水平较低，而意义呈现的水平较高，这表明两组都能够区分意义的两个方面。对于年长成年人而言，无论寻求意义的水平如何，较高的意义呈现都与更好的心理健康和幸福结果相关。对于年轻成年人来说，较高的意义呈现和较低的寻求与更好的结果相关。这些结果表明，对于生活在高收入英语国家的年长成年人而言，意义呈现是幸福的一个重要方面，在与抑郁或焦虑的年长成年人合作时可能是一个重要关注点，而在与抑郁或焦虑的年轻成年人合作时，意义呈现和寻求意义可能都是更有意义的治疗目标。文中讨论了理论意义。
