Meaning made, distress, and growth: An examination of the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale.

Abstract

A number of measures aim to assess aspects of the postevent meaning process. The relevant constructs are conceptualized differently, but few studies have examined the convergent and incremental validity of these various measures. Holland et al. (2010) developed the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale (ISLES) as a measure of meaning made (i.e., the extent to which the appraised meaning of a stressful event has been integrated with 1’s global meaning). To test the validity of the ISLES we examined the ISLES’ relationship with the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) and the PostTraumatic Growth Inventory as well as these measures’ relationship with psychological adjustment. A hierarchical regression revealed that the ISLES possessed predictive ability after accounting for the MLQ. The relationship between the ISLES and other measures of meaning was partially moderated by sex. Overall, the ISLES demonstrated incremental validity above and beyond other assessments of meaning.