Global meaning and psychological adjustment among survivors of bone marrowtransplant

The purpose of the present study was to examine global meaning (i.e. the be lief that life has purpose and coherence) and psychological adjustment in s urvivors of bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Eighty-five survivors of BMT participated in a telephone interview. Regression analyses demonstrated th at after controlling for physical functioning, stressor severity, and gende r, global meaning was inversely related to global psychological distress an d BMT-related psychological distress (i.e. posttraumatic stress disorder-li ke symptoms related to the cancer treatment). Global meaning was also posit ively related to mental health aspects of quality of life (e.g. emotional f unctioning and social functioning). These findings suggest that global mean ing may be an important factor in the psychological adjustment of BMT survi vors. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.