Meaning in life and psychological well-being in older adults

Personal meaning in life refers to the presence of consistent meaning in
any domain of action and to a generalised sense o f purpose in life (Reker,
1992). The notion that a sense of meaningfulness is relevant to
psychological well-being, and conversely that a sense o f meaninglessness
is relevant to psychological distress is of central importance in a number
o f influential and existential theories. The present investigation examined
the differences and the patterns of associations between meaning in life,
psychological well-being in differently functioning groups (a community
comparison group, a psychiatric outpatients’ group and a geriatric
outpatients’ group) of adults who are above the age of 65. The measures
of meaning in life and psychological well-being which were used were: the
Short Form 36 Items Health Status Questionnaire, Zung’s Self Rating
Anxiety and Depression Scales, the Purpose in Life Test, the Hospital
Anxiety and Depression scale and the Life Attitude Profile-Revised. Three
studies were conducted: two quantitative and one qualitative. Evidence is
obtained that a) meaning in life and well-being differ significantly between
differently functioning groups of older adults, b) meaning in life is
consistently associated with measures of psychological well-being, c)
meaning in life is a consistent predictor of psychological well-being d)
changes in personal meaning were predicted from changes in mental
health in a psychiatric outpatient group of older adults which had been
targeted to change their mental health status through medical and
psychotherapeutic treatment (indicating a direction o f effect) and that e)
sources of meaning such as religion, relationships, and gaining life satisfaction from “here and now” appear to be important for older adults in order to maintain and/or find meaning in their lives. These findings lead
strongly to the conclusion that there is a substantial and consistent
relationship between meaning in life and psychological well-being in older
adults which should be taken into consideration in clinical practice. It is
concluded that the neglected meaning in life issue deserves greater
scientific and therapeutic consideration. Clinical implications and
suggestions for future research are discussed.