Relationship between Psychopathology and Sources of Meaning in Psychotherapeutically Treated Patients: A Naturalistic Cross-Sectional Analysis

The experience of meaning seems to be crucial for psychic well-being. In the literature, there are reports of relationships between personality, illness, and life meanings. The objective of this study was to investigate types of experiences of meaning (meaningfulness, crisis of meaning, existential indifference) and their associations with some psychopathological categories in a clinical population.

In a naturalistic and cross-sectional design, 56 German patients in outpatient psychotherapy (29 women, 27 men; mean age = 42.8 years, standard deviation = 13.8) were assessed by the Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (SoMe) Questionnaire (meaning of life, hedonism, eudaemonia). Psychopathology (Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Clinical Global Impression scale, Symptom Checklist (SCL)-90), self-esteem (Rosenberg scale), neuroticism (NEO-Five-Factor Inventory), and suicidality (Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire Revised (SBQ-R)).

Three distinct groups concerning the experience of meaning emerged: meaningfulness (33.9%), crisis of meaning (21.4%), and, as the largest group, existential indifference (42.9%). Eudaemonia as well as the hedonistic SoMe variables of fun and wellness were shown to be inversely related to psychopathology such as suicide risk (SBQ-R), general symptom distress (SCL-90), and depressive symptomatology (BDI-II).

This study highlights the importance of a differential consideration of existential factors, sources of meaning and life orientations for psychopathology in mental health, which should be more considered in standard psychotherapeutic situations.