Duijn, Sjoerd van (2025) Een gebrek aan zingeving en depressie: een post-pandemisch onderzoek. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Depression is a prevalent mental health condition that entails significant personal and societal consequences, including impaired daily functioning and increased healthcare costs. Research has shown a link between depression and meaning in life, on the basis of which meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP) emerged. Research has also shown that depression co-occurs with eating disorders. Therefore, Van Doornik et al. (2024) developed an MCP-intervention for people with eating disorders (MCP-ED). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the MCP-ED-intervention led to an increase in meaning in life, and a decrease in depressive and eating disorder symptoms. The current study replicated Van Doornik et al. (2024), yet differs from it through the use of post-pandemic data. Female university students with elevated weight and shape concerns were randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 83) or waitlist (n = 82) condition, and those who underwent the intervention followed six weekly, one hour MCP-ED-sessions, which focused on increasing meaning in life through topics such as personal life stories and creating meaningful experiences. Compared to the waitlist group, participants who followed the intervention experienced significant increases in meaning in life, with a large effect size (ηp2 = .18). Significant reductions in depressive symptoms were also found, with a medium to large effect size (ηp2 = .10). A post-hoc analysis showed a moderate negative relation between increases in experienced meaning in life and decreases in depressive symptoms (r = -.35). These findings confirm MCP-ED’s effectiveness in a post-pandemic world. The study underlines MCP’s potential as a preventative intervention for those that have previously experienced an eating disorder or depressive episode.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Jong, P.J. de and Frey, M.I. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Clinical Psychology (CP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Feb 2025 14:26 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Feb 2025 14:26 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4732 |
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