Meaning as a mission: A review of empirical studies on appraisals of war and peacekeeping experiences
Section snippets
Methods
For the purpose of this review relevant publications were searched with Webspirs (searches PsycINFO and Medline) and PILOTS using general terms such as veterans, soldiers in combination with meaning, appraisals. Additional specific search terms were used such as benefit finding, coping, change, effects, consequences. The search results were screened for their relevance to the review. Non-empirical (i.e. theoretical and literature reviews) publications were excluded. References of the identified
Conceptual issues
The following issues will be discussed: the theoretical definitions of meaning, the dimensions of meaning, the domains of change, the perceived threat during war and peacekeeping, and psychological adjustment in relation to meaning.
Methodological issues
In this paragraph methodological issues with regard to the empirical studies under review are discussed. These issues concern the following three subjects: the research designs that were used, the populations and response rates, and the instruments used to measure meaning or appraisals of the experience.
Discussion
Veterans reported more positive than negative effects in the studies of this review (Aldwin et al., 1994, Dohrenwend et al., 2004, Elder and Clipp, 1989, Mehlum, 1995, Spiro et al., 1999). Positive and negative meanings of war and peacekeeping experiences reflected independent dimensions and were found to co-exist. Furthermore, findings indicate a mediating effect of perceived benefits from (highly) stressful experiences on psychological adjustment. These findings clearly illustrate the
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