Citation

Davis CG, Harasymchuk C, Wohl MJ. J. Trauma. Stress 2012; 25(2): 142-149.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. chris_davis@carleton.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.21675

PMID

22522727

Abstract

Meaning-making, like much of coping research, has been conceptualized and assessed as an individual-centered phenomenon. On the premise that most traumas affect families as a whole, we assessed the extent to which meanings following a traumatic loss were congruent within families. Qualitative and quantitative data from family members coping with the loss of a family member in a mine explosion indicated moderate family congruence in meanings and global well-being. Furthermore, greater family similarity in meaning was associated with less depressive affect in individuals (pseudo R(2) = .063), but was not associated with individual differences in well-being. The research highlights the important role that families play in coping with trauma.

Language: en