Assessment of Existential Meaning and its Longitudinal Relations with Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

The perception of meaning in life, or existential meaning, is an individual differences variable requiring improved construct specification and longitudinal analysis. The authors conceptualize of existential meaning as consisting of personal, spiritual, and implicit sub–constructs, respectively, experiencing one's life as having purpose and coherence, experiencing a transcendent presence in which one participates, and manifesting normatively valued attitudes/behavior. Latent cross–lagged panel analysis modeling meaning's longitudinal relations with depressive symptoms in a sample of 395 undergraduates indicated that baseline levels of meaning predicted changes in depressive symptoms over a two–month duration. Additionally, women were found to score higher than men on two of three measures of meaning. Study results have ramifications for how we conceive of and measure existential meaning, as well as how we conceptualize and address psychological distress. The authors conclude with a discussion of social factors requiring further investigation that may influence the experience of meaning in life.