The concept and measurement of meaning in life in Dutch cancer patients.

We investigated the psychometric properties of a Dutch translation of the Personal Meaning Profile in a heterogeneous group of cancer patients. Our study resulted in a relatively short scale consisting of 39 of the 57 original items, divided into 5 factors, labeled 'relation with God'; 'dedication to life'; 'fairness of life'; 'goal-orientedness' and 'relations with other people', which can be summed to a total score of the experience of meaning in life. The internal consistency of the total scale as well as of its sub dimensions was high. The experience of meaning in life was positively related to feelings of psychological well-being and negatively to feelings of distress. Furthermore, the experience of meaning in life was also related to trait-like characteristics as personality. Future research can investigate its appropriateness for other populations than cancer patients, and if and how the experience of meaning in life eventually changes as a result of existential threats.

Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the posttraumatic growth inventory among cancer patients.

In the current study, we investigated the psychometric properties of a Dutch translation of the posttraumatic growth inventory in a heterogeneous group of cancer patients. Its original five-factor structure was maintained. The internal consistency of the total scale, as well as its subdimensions, was satisfactory. As expected, the experience of posttraumatic growth was positively related to: emotional expression about the illness, openness to experience, and feelings of innerness. Furthermore, the scale appeared to be sensitive for the demographics age and gender. The experience of posttraumatic growth was not related to negative feelings such as avoidance, anxiety, depression, and neuroticism. Our Dutch translation of the instrument appeared to be a sound measure for the experience of posttraumatic growth in cancer patients.