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Suspicious Minds at Risk? The Role of Meaning in Processing War and Peacekeeping Experiences
Author(s) -
Schok Michaela L.,
Kleber Rolf J.,
LensveltMulders Gerty J. L. M.,
Elands Martin,
Weerts Jos
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00702.x
Subject(s) - distrust , meaning (existential) , psychology , peacekeeping , social psychology , path analysis (statistics) , posttraumatic stress , relation (database) , sample (material) , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , political science , law , statistics , chemistry , mathematics , chromatography , database , computer science
The purpose of this study was to examine meaning as a mediator between perceived threat and posttraumatic stress responses among a sample of 1,561 veterans who participated in war or peacekeeping operations. Data were collected by questionnaire. Path analysis was performed to assess the expected relationships between the observed variables. Meaning in terms of distrust and personal benefits partially mediated the relation between perceived threat and posttraumatic stress responses. Distrustful beliefs about others and the world were strongly associated with perceived threat, as well as intrusive and avoidant thoughts. Creating meaning in terms of a positive worldview appears to be an important mission after military deployment.