Meaning in life and psychological distress: A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis examined the overall magnitude of the associations between psychological distress and the presence of meaning in life (PML) and search for meaning in life (SML). We identified 108 articles with 76,892 combined participants. We found that (1) psychological distress was significantly negatively correlated with PML and significantly positively correlated with SML; (2) language and sample type moderated the relationship between psychological distress and SML but not PML; (3) culture and region, but not mean age and gender, moderated the relationships between psychological distress and PML and SML; and (4) distress indicators moderated the relationships between psychological distress and PML (strongest for depression and weakest for negative affect) and SML (strongest for anxiety and weakest for suicidal ideation). Thus, the association between meaning in life and psychological distress is nuanced and depends on various conceptual and demographic characteristics.