Nicholas’s Article Presentation

First semester lab member, Nicholas, recently gave his first article presentation on a study entitled “Meaning Making and Psychological Adjustment Following Cancer: The Mediating Roles of Growth, Life Meaning, and Restored Just-World Beliefs” by Crystal L. Park, Donald Edmondson, Juliane R. Fenster, and Thomas O. Blank. The purpose of this study was to clarify the meaning making, the process of how persons understand or make sense of life events, relationships, and the self, and how it influences psychological well-being. The results showed that the meaning making process, including positive re-framing of negative thoughts and experiences, relates to better adjustment after experiences with cancer. The researchers also developed a pathway model of the meaning making process that illustrated multiple relationships, including the positive relations between life meaningfulness and psychological well-being. The researchers indicated that future research should account for different stages of cancer, severity of the cancer, and whether patients have had re-occurrences of the disease. Nicholas believes that it is important to examine the meaning making model over a longer period and that additional variables should be assessed that may assist in meaning making. Nicholas continues to pursue his passion with how posttraumatic growth impacts the lives of cancer patients, and we are excited to see how his interests grow in the lab! Well done, Nicholas!