ArticleJournal of happiness studies2020
Meaning in Life Predicts Decreased Depressive Symptoms and Increased Positive Affect over Time but Does Not Buffer Stress Effects in a National Sample of African-Americans.
Article in Journal of happiness studies, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- The relationship between positive resonance and meaning in life among college freshmen: a random intercept cross-lagged panel analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Achievement Motivation, Meaning in Life, and Well-Being Among Video Game Players.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- The relationship between problematic mobile phone use and meaning in life among adolescents: a latent profile analyses.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Daily Hassles, Self-Esteem, and Depressive Symptoms in African American Women Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence.Journal of aggression, maltreatment & trauma · 2025Article
- Longitudinal Associations of Experiential and Reflective Dimensions of Meaning in Life With Psychopathological Symptoms.Clinical psychology in Europe · 2024Article
- Article
- Meaning in challenging times: Sense of meaning supports wellbeing despite pandemic stresses.SSM. Mental health · 2023Article
- The longitudinal relationship between meaning in life, depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and cognitive functioning for older adults with Alzheimer's disease.European journal of ageing · 2022Article
- Adjustment to the COVID-19 pandemic: associations with global and situational meaning.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Hope, Purpose, and Religiosity: The Impact of Psychosocial Resources on Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms Among Middle-Aged and Older Blacks.Journal of aging and health · 2022Article
- Longitudinal measurement invariance of the meaning in life questionnaire in Chinese college students.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- The Influence of Employee Emotion Fluctuation on Service Performance: An Experience Sampling Data Analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- The relationship between anxiety and depression under the pandemic: The role of life meaning.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Subjective Appraisal and Orientations in Difficult Life Situations as Predictors of Coping Strategies.Psychology in Russia : state of the art · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Few studies have specifically focused on meaning in life in African Americans and many important questions remain, including whether effects of meaning in life are direct or moderated by levels of stress. In a national sample of 909 African Americans, we tested meaning in life as a prospective predictor of changes in depressive symptoms and positive affect over a 2.5-year period. Controlling for demographics and hassles, meaning in life predicted decreased depressive symptoms and increased positive affect across the span of 2.5 years. Moderation effects were not found for hassles, age, or income. Gender moderated the effect of meaning on positive affect such that effects were stronger for women than for men. These results suggest that, for African Americans, meaning in life appears to robustly protect against future depressive symptoms and promote positive affect over time unaffected by amount of stress experienced or most demographic factors.
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Registered trials
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