The role of intrusive and deliberate ruminations for meaning making in stressful events

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between meaning making and rumination regarding stressful events. We focused on two facets of rumination: intrusive and deliberate. Participants (N = 121) completed a questionnaire about a stressful event in their life that assessed the possibility of preventing the event, probability of the event occurring, perceived threat of the event, and meaning making. They also completed scales that assessed intrusive and deliberate ruminations about the event, posttraumatic growth after the event, as well as dispositions of self-rumination and self-reflection, and executive function. The results revealed that disposition of self-reflection was positively correlated with deliberate rumination about the event. Furthermore, deliberate rumination at the time of the experience was positively correlated with current positive meaning making, which was associated with current posttraumatic growth. Additionally, current intrusive rumination promoted current negative meaning making, but intrusive rumination at the time of the experience did not. Thus, this study suggests the important role of both intrusive and deliberate ruminations in the process of meaning making and several issues for future research.