American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 2012, Vol. 82, No.

2, 267277

2012 American Orthopsychiatric Association DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01150.x

Can Positive Thinking Help? Positive Automatic Thoughts as Moderators of the StressMeaning Relationship
Tennessee State University

Guler Boyraz

Owen Richard Lightsey, Jr.

The University of Memphis

The purpose of this study was to test whether positive automatic cognitions moderated the relationship between event stressfulness and meaning in life. Measures of these constructs were administered to 232 students and community-dwelling adults. Supporting hypotheses and the literature, positive automatic cognitions moderated the relationship between event stressfulness and meaning in life. For persons with high levels of positive thinking, greater event stressfulness was associated with higher meaning in life. For persons with low levels of positive thinking, greater event stressfulness was associated with lower meaning in life. These results were obtained when controlling for positive affect, as well as the positive affect event stressfulness interaction. The positive cognitions event stressfulness interaction accounted for 2.9% of variance, and the overall model accounted for 47% of the variance in meaning in life.

eaning in life, a global belief that ones life has meaning and is signicant (see Steger, Frazier, Oishi, & Kaler, 2006), has long been considered an important index of well-being (Frankl, 1984) and has recently emerged as a pivotal predictor of other well-being indices. Meaning in life has exhibited strong positive correlations with life satisfaction and joy and has been inversely associated with depression and sadness (Steger et al., 2006). Meaning also has been found to mediate the relationship between both physical and social functioning and distress among cancer survivors (Jim & Andersen, 2007) and the relationship between religiousness and life satisfaction (Steger & Frazier, 2005). Furthermore, change in meaning has predicted positive change in mental health over time (Jacobson, 2002), and patients who have higher preadmission meaning have exhibited less depression, pain, and physical disability at discharge and 1-year follow-up, compared to patients with lower initial meaning (Park, 2003). As higher meaning predicts a variety of positive outcomes, lower meaning may undermine both psychological and physical health. For example, meaninglessness (along with perceived loss of control) has been found to mediate the relationship between uncontrollable stress and substance use (Newcomb & Harlow, 1986). In a similar vein, loss of meaning has accounted for the negative health consequences that arise from life stresses in highly valued roles (Krause, 2004). The recent literature thus
The authors contributed equally to this project. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Guler Boyraz, Tennessee State University, 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd., Nashville, TN 37219. Electronic mail may be sent to gboyraz@ gmail.com. 267

testies to the central role of global meaning in well-being and psychological dysfunction. Although the importance of global meaning is now unequivocal, the factors that produce or lead to global meaning are not well understood, and empirical studies that examine the development of global meaning are rare (see Park & Folkman, 1997). Indeed, despite the centrality of stress in theories of meaning development and posttraumatic growth (e.g., see Tedeschi, 1999, for a theoretical discussion; see Armeli, Gunthert, & Cohen, 2001; Park, Cohen, & Murch, 1996), major stressors often have been found to predict loss of meaning (see Fontana & Rosenheck, 2005, for a discussion; Jim, Richardson, GoldenKreutz, & Anderson, 2006; Krause, 2004), and a vast literature demonstrates that stressors can result in psychological and physiological damage (Anderson, Kiecolt-Glaser, & Glaser, 1994; Herbert & Cohen, 1993; OLeary, 1992). Thus, ascertaining the malleable factors that prevent loss of meaning in the face of stress is vital.

Positive Automatic Thoughts

One factor that may help to prevent stress-induced erosion of meaning is positive automatic thoughts (PATs). In cognitive theories, the PATs and negative automatic thoughts that arise when deep beliefs (also termed schemata) are activated by stressful events affect stress-related coping and adaptation (Beck, 1967; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; McCann, Sakheim, & Abrahamson, 1988). In contrast to thoughts, beliefs generally take an ifthen form (e.g., If everybody likes me, it means Im a good person) and tend to remain at preconscious or unconscious levels, although they can be accessed with psychotherapy

268

BOYRAZ AND LIGHTSEY

and practice. Automatic thoughts consist of declarative selfstatements (e.g., Im fun to be with and Im proud of my accomplishments from the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Positive or ATQP; Ingram & Wisnicki, 1988) that occur without effort or intention (Wallace & Newman, 1997, p. 143) and are more accessible to introspection. Theorists have argued that PATs (and negative automatic thoughts) result in emotional, cognitive, biological, behavioral, and interpersonal response patterns (McCann et al., 1988, p. 560) to major stressors, thus shaping stress-related adaptation. Consistent with prominent cognitive theories, positive beliefs about self, world, and the future (as well as ones relationships with others) have been hypothesized to foster healthy adjustment and positive self-regard (Beck, 1967) via activation of PATs that buffer the effects of stress and thereby confer resilience (Ingram & Wisnicki, 1988; Lightsey, 1996; McCann et al., 1988). Studying PATs may therefore be pivotal in answering the key question of whether cognitive and motivational processes linked to happiness can be acquired or taught (see Lyubomirsky, 2001, for a discussion of this question). Empirical evidence has supported the importance of PATs and the hypotheses of Ingram and Wisnicki (1988), Lightsey (1996), and McCann et al. (1988). Preexisting frequency of PATs has predicted success of cognitive therapy for depressive tendencies (Shiraishi, 2005), and client response to cognitive therapy has been more strongly predicted by changes in positive thinking than by changes in negative thinking (Garamoni, Reynolds, Thase, Frank, & Fasiczka, 1992). PATs also have been found to predict future happiness (Lightsey, 1994a) and to correlate inversely with depression (Ingram, Atkinson, Slater, Saccuzzo, & Garn, 1990; Missel & Sommer, 1983). Additionally, functional persons have displayed more positive thoughts relative to negative thoughts (e.g., Missel & Sommer, 1983; Schwartz, 1986). Furthermore, consistent with Ingram and Wisnickis (1988) thesis that PATs may act as stress buffers, PATs have in most cross-sectional studies (Bruch, 1997; Lightsey, 1994b, 1999; but in only one of several two-wave panel studies; Lightsey, 1994a, 1999) moderated the relationship between stress and dysphoria such that, at higher levels of PATs, the positive relationship between stress and dysphoria was weaker. This moderation effect was clinically signicant in that persons with infrequent PATs evidenced mild to moderate depressive symptoms in the face of high stress, whereas persons with frequent PATs did not display depressive symptoms under high stress conditions (Lightsey, 1994b). The stress-buffering effect of trait PATs may be quite broad and may aid not only in avoidance of depression but in reduced stress-related loss of meaning. In this conceptualization, high frequencies of PATs would serve as a core psychological resource that protects some persons from stress-related challenges to their meaning system or, alternatively, confers resilience by enabling such challenges to be framed as opportunities for meaning and growth. Conversely, low levels of PATs may foster vulnerability of the meaning system to stressors, resulting in lowered meaning in the face of stress. This thesis is broadly consistent with the theories of Beck (1967) and Dweck (2008), as well as other important theories. For example, in the posttraumatic growth literature, both underlying habitual processing style (Zoellner & Maercker, 2006, p. 639), which may be

reected in PATs, and preexisting fundamental beliefs have been posited to predict growth and could also predict adjustment (see Zoellner & Maercker, 2006, for a discussion). Similarly, many other theorists have proposed that intermediate-level cognitive factors, which exist between the levels of broad personality traits and situation-specic behaviors, may shape the relationship between stressors and outcomes (e.g., Cohen & Edwards, 1989; Dweck, 2008; Lightsey, 1996) and help to determine adaptation (e.g., Beck, 1967; Dweck, 2008). PATs may constitute one such factor. The thesis that PATs affect the strength of the stressmeaning relationship differs from some recent theories in emphasizing cognitive over affective determinants of resilience or meaning. For example, in broaden-and-build theory, trait-resilient individuals are hypothesized to experience positive affect that broadens thoughtaction repertoires, produces exible and positive mental states (Fredrickson, 2000, 2001), and fosters successful adjustment to adversity (Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004). In contrast, we theorize that PATs, rather than positive affect, will moderate the relationship between stress and meaning in life. Park and Folkman (1997) hypothesized that use of positive reappraisal and other coping strategies leads to altered global or situational meaning and hence, through congruence between situational and global meaning, to acceptance and resolution of the stressor or problem. In this framework, a tendency to positively construe situational events can lead to enhanced meaning, and such a tendency may be abetted by positive beliefs about the world, oneself, and ones relationship with the world that provide a context for interpreting and understanding suffering. It is important to emphasize, however, that Park and Folkmans (1997) conceptualization of global meaning differs from that of many other theorists by subsuming enduring beliefs about self, world, and the selfworld relationship, which in many theories (e.g., Bandura, 1997; Beck, 1967; Dweck, 2008; Lightsey, 2006) are construed as vulnerability or resilience factors that predict meaning, well-being, or performance. Additionally, in Park and Folkmans denition, global meaning includes pursuit and attainment of valued goals, which is more typically equated with purpose in life (see Damon, Menon, & Bronk, 2003; Ryff, 1989). Although meaning in life and purpose indeed overlap considerably, they are distinct constructs (see Damon et al., 2003). We believe that construing beliefs and goals as part of global meaning in life conates predictors and outcomes and results in potential loss of explanatory power. A tremendous and growing body of evidence demonstrates that cognitive factors such as beliefs, expectancies, and cognitions predict performance, wellbeing, and health (see Bandura, 1997; Dweck, 2008; Lang & Lang, 2010; Segerstrom & Sephton, 2010). Therefore, in the present study, and consistent with many recent studies (e.g., Steger et al., 2006), we dened meaning in life as a global belief that ones life has meaning and is signicant. It should be noted that global meaning in life as we dene it is distinct from the situational meaning that may arise from particular events, which in several theories (e.g., Park & Folkman, 1997) is inuenced by, and also helps to shape, global meaning. In summary, recent evidence strongly supports the role of meaning in well-being and psychological malaise as well as the role of stress in undermining (see Fontana & Rosenheck, 2005, for a discussion; Jim et al., 2006; Krause, 2004), or in some

POSITIVE COGNITIONS, EVENT-RELATED STRESS, AND MEANING

269

circumstances augmenting (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), meaning. However, the factors that prevent loss of global meaning in life or allow growth in meaning in life in the face of stressful events are not fully understood. The purpose of this study is to help clarify why stressful life events predict lower global meaning for some, but either no loss of global meaning or higher global meaning for others by ascertaining whether PATs moderate the relationship between the stressfulness of an experienced event and meaning in life. In light of the previous literature, we hypothesized that the PATs event stressfulness interaction will predict unique incremental variance in meaning in life such that, at lower levels of PATs, greater event stressfulness will predict lower meaning in life, whereas at higher levels of PATs, greater event stressfulness will not predict lower meaning in life. Because the literature is not sufcient to hypothesize an augmentation effect associated with PATs with regard to meaning in life (i.e., that, for more frequent PATs, event stressfulness will predict greater meaning in life), we do not forward this corollary hypothesis. Given evidence of the powerful effects of positive affect on a variety of outcomes (see Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005, for a review; see Pressman & Cohen, 2005, for a review and caveats) and for the strong relationship between positive affect and meaning in life (King, Hicks, Krull, & Del Gaiso, 2006), we controlled for both positive affect and the positive affect event stressfulness interaction in testing our hypothesis. This is consistent with recent recommendations to include positive affect in models of stress-related growth so as to guard against overestimating the role of cognitive factors (see Zoellner & Maercker, 2006).

a graduate degree, and 4.4% had a high school degree or less. A few of the participants (2.2%) described their education level as other. The stressful events reported by the participants were diverse and included personal illness (5.6%), relationship problems (7.4%), nancial or work-related stress (9.1%), illness of a loved one (10.0%), relationship breakup or separation from a loved one (10.4%), loss of a loved one (10.8%), academic stressors (12.6%), life transitions (e.g., starting college and being away from family, 21.6%), and other stressors (12.5%).

Instruments
Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM). The Stressfulness subscale of the SAM was used as a measure of participants perception of the overall stressfulness of the most stressful event that they experienced in the past year. The Stressfulness subscale is composed of four items that are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely). A sample item is Does this situation tax or exceed my coping resources? Alpha coefcients for the Stressfulness subscale ranged from .75 to .81 (Peacock & Wong, 1990). Peacock and Wong (1990) reported signicant correlations between the Stressfulness subscale and psychological symptoms (r = .38; p < .001) and dysphoric mood (r = .58; p < .001). The mean (3.37) and standard deviation (0.89) of the event stressfulness rating in the current study indicated that most participants experienced moderate to extreme stress as a result of the identied event. Approximately 37% of the sample reported a mean event stressfulness level between 3.0 (moderately stressful) and 3.99 (4.0 = considerably stressful), and 31% of the sample reported a mean event stressfulness between 4.0 (considerably) and 5.0 (extremely). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MILQ). The MILQ includes 10 self-report items that measure the presence for meaning and the search for meaning. For the purpose of this study, the Presence of Meaning subscale (MILQ-P) of the MILQ was used to assess the degree to which participants perceived their lives to be meaningful. The items of MILQ-P include statements such as I have a good sense of what makes my life meaningful. Participants are asked to indicate the degree to which they agree with each statement using a 7-point Likert scale that ranges from 1 (absolutely untrue) to 7 (absolutely true). The internal consistency coefcients of this scale ranged from .81 to .92 (Steger et al., 2006). One-month testretest reliability was .70. Correlations between the Presence of Meaning subscale and other measures of meaning or purpose ranged from .58 to .74, indicating convergent validity. Discriminant validity was evidenced by a lack of signicant correlations with a measure of social desirability (Steger et al., 2006). The Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Positive (ATQP). The ATQP is a 30-item self-report instrument that measures the frequency of PATs (Ingram & Wisnicki, 1988). Participants were asked to indicate how frequently they experience each thought in general, using a 5-point Likert scale

Method Participants
The data for this study were collected from a university in the Southeast and from various Internet listservs. The inclusion criterion was being 18 years of age or older. Before contacting the Internet listservs, we reviewed various Web-based listservs and discussion groups. After reviewing these listservs, we selected and contacted particular listservs or discussion groups that pertained to well-being, varied related interests, or stress-related issues (e.g., relationship problems, relationship loss, life transitions, etc). After obtaining permission from the vice presidents ofce, university student volunteers were recruited by sending an invitation e-mail to the university student listserv; this e-mail included brief information about the study and the link to the survey, which was posted on an Internet survey-based Web site. A similar e-mail was sent to Internet listservs. Two hundred and thirty-two participants (198 students from a universityboth undergraduate and graduate studentsand 34 community residents) completed the survey. Age of the participants ranged from 18 to 66 years (M = 29.87; SD = 11.35). Only 21.6% of the participants were men, whereas 78.4% were women. Most of the participants identied their ethnicity as Caucasian (74.6%), 19.0% as African American, 1.7% as Asian, 1.7% as Biracial or Multiracial, and 0.9% as Hispanic; 2.2% of the participants identied their ethnicity as other. Approximately half of the participants (n = 117; 50.4%) indicated that they had some college, 24.6% had a college degree, 18.5% had

270

BOYRAZ AND LIGHTSEY

ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (all the time). Reliability analyses revealed a coefcient alpha value of .94; split-half reliability was .95. Factorial analysis of the ATQP revealed four factors: Positive Daily Functioning, Positive Self-Evaluation, Others Evaluations of the Self, and Positive Future Expectations. Sample items from each subscale include I am comfortable with life and I have many friends who support me (Positive Daily Functioning); I have many good qualities, and I deserve the best in life (Positive Self-Evaluation); I am respected by my peers and I have a good way with others (Others Evaluations of Self); and My future looks bright and I will be successful (Positive Future Expectations). For the purpose of the present study, participants total score on the ATQP was used as a measure of PATs. Findings have provided support for the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the total ATQP score (Ingram, Kendall, Siegle, Guarino, & McLaughlin, 1995; Jolly & Wiesner, 1996). The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The PANAS is a bifactorial instrument that measures positive affect (10 items) and negative affect (10 items). Only the Positive Affect subscale of the PANAS was used in the present study. The Positive Affect scale includes 10 feeling or emotion words, such as enthusiastic and alert (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Participants were asked to indicate on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely) the extent they have experienced each emotion or feeling during the past few weeks. Coefcient alpha was .87, and 8-week test retest reliability was .58 for positive affect when the PANAS was administered with past few weeks time frame instructions in a combined sample of undergraduates, university employees, and nonuniversity adults (Watson et al., 1988). The PANAS has been used in hundreds of studies, and ample research provides support for reliability and validity of PANAS scores among college students and other populations.

Table 1. Zero-Order Correlations, Means, and Standard Deviations Among Overall Scale Scores
1 1. Meaning in life 2. Event stress 3. Positive thoughts 4. Positive affect Note. N = 232. **p < .001. 2 ).19** 3 .65** ).26** 4 .55** ).20** .71** M 4.90 3.37 3.09 3.30 SD 1.53 .89 .74 .90 a .91 .77 .95 .91

Procedures
After completing an informed consent and demographic questionnaire, participants were asked to identify the most stressful event that they experienced in the past year. Then, they were asked to complete the SAM based on the stressful event they identied. Participants then completed the remaining instruments for this study, which was part of a larger Web-based study (see Lightsey & Boyraz, 2011). Samples obtained via the Internet generally exhibit desirable sampling characteristics (Gosling, Vazire, Srivastava, & John, 2004). Additionally, Internet-based data have been found to be valid (Kraut et al., 2004) and psychometrically equivalent to paper-based data (Meyerson & Tryon, 2003; Miller et al., 2002).

Results
Table 1 presents the zero-order correlations, means, standard deviations, and coefcient alphas of overall scale scores. Preliminary analyses indicated that there were no signicant differences in meaning in life across gender, t(230) = )1.64; ns, or between university students and the community sample (t = .057, ns), nor was there a signicant relationship between

participants age and meaning level (r = .025; ns). We also conducted a one-way univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) to explore whether there were signicant differences in perceived meaning levels across education levels. This analysis included three groups: (a) participants with some college or less, (b) participants with a college degree, and (c) participants with a graduate degree. We excluded ve participants who indicated their education level was other from this analysis. Results indicated that there were no signicant differences in perceived meaning levels across education level, F(2, 224) = .195; ns. We next conducted a hierarchical regression analysis to examine (a) the amount of variance in meaning explained by eventrelated stress, PATs, and positive affect and (b) whether PATs moderated the relationship between event-related stress and meaning in life, after controlling for the positive affect stress interaction. Prior to testing our hypotheses, we rst standardized the predictor and moderator variables to reduce problems associated with multicollinearity (Aiken & West, 1991; Frazier, Tix, & Barron, 2004). The interaction terms were then created by taking the product of the standardized independent variables and each standardized moderator variable. Preliminary exploratory analysis indicated that there was no problematic multicollinearity (e.g., the largest variance ination factor was 2.08), and that the assumptions of linearity, homoscedasticity, and normality were met. We therefore conducted a hierarchical regression analysis to examine our hypotheses. Event-related stress was entered in Step 1, PATs and positive affect were entered as a block in Step 2, and the two-way positive affect stress and PATs stress interactions were entered in Step 3. We entered both interaction terms in the same block to control for the Type 1 error (see Frazier et al., 2004). Results of the regression analysis are presented in Table 2. In the rst step of the regression, event-related stress accounted for 3.5% of the variance in meaning in life, F(1, 230) = 8.41; p < .01. In Step 2, PATs and positive affect together accounted for an additional 40.0% of the variance in meaning over and above the variance accounted for by event-related stress, DR2 = .40; DF (2, 228) = 80.72; p < .001. In the nal step, two-way interaction terms (i.e., positive affect stress and PATs stress) accounted for an additional 3.2% of the variance in meaning in life, and the increase in variance explained by the addition of the interaction terms was statistically signicant, DR2 = .03; DF (2, 226) = 6.69, p < .01. Examination of the regression weights from the nal equation indicated that the two-way, PATs stress interaction was signicant, B = .35; b = .23; t(226) = 3.52, p < .01. The positive affect stress interaction was not statistically signicant, B = ).16; b =

POSITIVE COGNITIONS, EVENT-RELATED STRESS, AND MEANING

271

Table 2. Hierarchical Multiple Regression: Positive Thoughts as a Moderator of the Event StressfulnessMeaning in Life Relationship
Variable Step 1 Event stressfulness Step 2 Event stressfulness Positive affect Positive thoughts Step 3 Event stressfulness Positive affect Positive thoughts Pos. affect event stress Pos. thoughts event stress Note. N = 232. B ).29 ).03 .28 .78 ).01 .26 .78 ).16 .35 SE .10 .08 .11 .11 .08 .11 .11 .11 .10 b ).19 ).02 .18 .51 ).01 .17 .51 ).10 .23 t )2.90 ).37 2.61 7.12 ).12 2.44 7.26 )1.55 3.52 p .004 .712 .010 .000 .904 .015 .000 .122 .001 Lower CI 95% ).54 ).21 .08 .76 ).18 .06 .77 ).46 .24 Upper CI 95% ).10 .14 .55 1.35 .16 .52 1.34 .05 .83 R2 .035 .435 F 8.41 58.56 p .004 .000 DR2 .400 DF 80.72 .000 Dp

.467

39.57

.000

.032

6.69

.002

).10, t(226) = )1.55, ns. We also calculated the squared semipartial correlation (sr2) for the PATs stress interaction to determine the amount of variance in meaning in life attributable to this interaction (see Cohen, Cohen, West, & Aiken, 2003; Frazier et al., 2004, for discussions). The semipartial correlation (sr) values for the positive affect stress and PATs stress interaction terms were ).07 and .17, respectively. The sr2 value for the PATs stress interaction term was .029 (sr2 = DR2 = .17 .17 = .029), indicating that the amount of variance explained in meaning in life by the PATs stress interaction term was 2.9%. Interaction terms usually account for 1% to 3% of the variance in outcomes (i.e., Champoux & Peters, 1987; Chaplin, 1991), and effect size values greater than .02 are not considered small (Cohen, 1992). Following Frazier et al.s (2004) recommendations, we plotted the interaction to aid the interpretation of the interaction effect. The two-way PATs stress interaction is depicted in Figure 1. To further explore the interaction effects, we tested the signicance of the simple slopes (Frazier et al., 2004) using the software program Interaction! Version 1.3.1812 (Soper, 20062009). As hypothesized, at lower frequency of PATs, event stressfulness had an inverse association with meaning in life, t(226) = )2.98; B (for the simple slope test) = ).36; 95% CI = ).60, ).12; one-tailed p < .01. At a higher frequency of PATs, there was a signicant and positive relationship between event stressfulness and meaning in life, t(226) = 2.65; B (for the simple slope test) = .34; 95% CI = .087, .59; one-tailed p < .01. At mean levels of PATs, the relationship between event stressfulness and meaning in life was nonsignicant, t(226) = ).12; B (for the simple slope test) = ).01; 95% CI = ).16, .14, one-tailed, ns. We also conducted an additional hierarchical regression to ascertain the ability of positive affect and the positive affect event stressfulness interaction to predict meaning in life without PATs or the PATs event stressfulness interaction in the model. In this regression, event stressfulness was entered in Step 1, positive affect was entered at Step 2, and the positive affect event stressfulness interaction was entered in Step 3. Positive affect predicted, DR2 = .27; DF (1, 229) = 90.99, p < .001, but the positive affect event stressfulness interaction did not predict, DR2 = .005; DF (1, 228) = 1.63, p > .20, meaning in life.

Figure 1. Prediction of meaning in life by event stressfulness at high, medium, and low levels of positive automatic thoughts. Event stressfulness is depicted in standard deviation units from the mean of 0.

Discussion
The purpose of this study was to help to clarify why the stressfulness of challenging events leads to loss of meaning for some but no loss of meaning for others. Specically, we tested the hypothesis that, for lower levels of PATs, event stressfulness would be associated with lower meaning in life, whereas at higher levels of PATs, event stressfulness would not be associated with lower meaning in life. This hypothesis was partly supported: Among persons with less frequent PATs, event stressfulness had a signicant inverse relationship with meaning in life. However, among persons with more frequent PATs, event stressfulness had a signicant and positive relationship with meaning in life. At mean frequencies of PATs, the relationship between event stressfulness and meaning in life was nonsignicant. More specically, at and above stress levels of 1 SD above the mean (which corresponds to a rated event stressfulness of 4.26, between 4.0 [considerably stressful] and 5.0 [extremely

272

BOYRAZ AND LIGHTSEY

stressful]), participants displayed signicantly lower meaning at lower frequencies of PATs and signicantly higher meaning at higher frequencies of PATs. This relationship was linear in that the most stressful eventsevents that participants rated between considerably stressful and extremely stressfulwere associated with the lowest levels of meaning when PATs were infrequent, but the highest levels of meaning when PATs were frequent. Persons with average levels of PATs maintained an average level of meaning regardless of stress level. These ndings are consistent with the thesis that low levels of PATs may act as a vulnerability factor, leading to a decrease in meaning in the face of stressful events, but that high levels of PATs enable persons to ward off the deleterious effects of stress. Indeed, consistent with ndings that psychological strengths such as optimism and perceived self-efcacy are positively associated with stress-related growth and may facilitate adjustment (Barskova & Oesterreich, 2009) and with ndings that cognitive coping strategies predict unique variance in posttraumatic growth (Garnefski, Kraaij, Schroevers, & Somsen, 2008), our ndings suggest that high levels of PATs may allow persons to utilize highly stressful events as opportunities for enhanced meaning and growth. Given the importance of meaning in life in itself, as well as the strong links between meaning in life and indices of well-being such as life satisfaction (Steger & Frazier, 2005), the nding that event-related stress predicts lower meaning when PATs are infrequent is a cause for concern, for loss of meaning may precipitate loss of life satisfaction as well as anxiety, depression, or other forms of psychopathology. However, the nding that event-related stress predicts greater meaning at higher frequencies of PATs is quite encouraging, given the malleability of PATs. These results are not only consistent with the idea that persons who have more frequent PATs do not easily lose meaning in the face of challenges to their meaning system, but also with the idea that high levels of PATs allow augmentation of meaning upon experience of a highly stressful event. This nding is consistent with several cognitive theories in which PATs are hypothesized to buffer effects of stress and augment positive psychological characteristics (e.g., Ingram & Wisnicki, 1988; McCann et al., 1988). Our results also support Park and Folkmans (1997) arguments for the importance of beliefs in the stress adaptation process, but extend their theory by demonstrating that general, trait-like cognitions have substantive moderational effects and may be sufcient to explain reactions to situational stressors without recourse to other constructs such as situational beliefs about these particular stressors. It is also noteworthy that PATs were unique in exhibiting this moderational effect: Despite the vast and growing literature testifying to the benets of positive affect (see Lyubomirsky et al., 2005) and despite the well-known relationship between positive affect and meaning in life (see King et al., 2006), positive affect did not moderate the event stressfulnessmeaning relationship. Indeed, compared to positive affect, PATs had a stronger relationship with meaning in life. Although these ndings do not invalidate or detract from the idea that positive affect is a resilience factor (Fredrickson, 2000, 2001; e.g., results are consistent with the idea that PATs partially mediate the relationship between positive affect and meaning in life, and ability to gener-

ate PATs could also result in higher positive affect when experiencing a stressor), they do suggest that PATs have an important and heretofore underemphasized role in fostering meaning and that studies of the affectmeaning relationship may do well to include measures of PATs. Indeed, the ability of PATs, but not positive affect, to moderate the event stressfulnessmeaning in life relationship suggests that PATs may serve as a proximal or distal (long-term) stress moderator and may hence berelative to positive affecta better target for interventions that seek to prevent stress-related loss of meaning. PATs, or the underlying positive schemata that PATs in theory reect, may provide a positive and exible mindset that allows positive accommodation to stressorsthat is, healthy modication of current worldviews and consequent growthrather than negative accommodation or assimilation. In contrast, low levels of PATs may render negative accommodation modication of current worldviews in a negative direction (e.g., a depressogenic reaction of hopelessness and helplessness, Joseph & Linley, 2008, p. 13) or assimilation more likely. In theory, negative accommodation leads to psychopathology such as depression or posttraumatic stress disorder, and assimilation (incorporation of the stressor within the current model of the world) leads to a return to pretrauma baseline at the cost of rigid psychological defenses and vulnerability to future trauma (see Joseph & Linley, 2008). In light of evidence that generation of emotion-incongruent thoughts can be a key means of modifying negative affective states (see Krohne, Pieper, Knoll, & Breimer, 2002, for a discussion), PATs may also reduce stress effects and augment the event stressfulnessmeaning relationship by serving as a bulwark against stress-induced negative affect. It remains possible, too, that PATs reect operation of a broader trait variable such as high self-esteem, extraversion, or learned resourcefulness. This possibility is consistent with evidence that, following induction into a negative mood, persons with high self-esteem evince more positive recall, whereas persons with low self-esteem demonstrate mood-congruent recall (see Krohne et al., 2002; Rusting, 1998, for discussions), that both positive affect and extraversion are associated with retrieval of positive memories (Rusting, 1999), and that positive thoughts predict learned resourcefulness (Bekhet, Zauszniewski, & Wykle, 2008). On the other hand, given the unique stress-moderation effect of PATs after controlling for positive affect, PATs may reect a unique and uniquely malleable means of fostering growth and meaning in the face of stressors. This is supported by evidence from a daily self-monitoring study in which positive thinking, but not optimism, was related to more positive self-evaluations, more involvement in intrinsically motivated activities, more focus on the present, and more positive feelings (Gregory, 2003). Alternatively, it is possible that the apparent moderational effect of PATs could, in some persons, reect unhealthy denial that becomes more pronounced as stress mounts. This possibility is supported by evidence that some persons who express positive illusions on self-report instruments are assessed by clinicians to be unhealthy deniers (Shedler, Mayman, & Manis, 1993). However, the nding that some persons who exhibit a positivity bias may be unhealthy deniers cannot account for the phenomenon of positivity (e.g., its prevalenceapproximately 95% of studied persons exhibit a positive bias or positive

POSITIVE COGNITIONS, EVENT-RELATED STRESS, AND MEANING

273

illusions) or its connection with healthy outcomes (see Taylor & Brown, 1994). In light of the vast evidence for salubrious effects varied forms of positivity (see Lyubomirsky et al., 2005; Taylor & Brown, 1994; Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004), and for the benets of PATs per se (Lightsey, 1994a, 1994b), it is more likely that the ability of PATs to moderate the event stressfulness meaning in life relationship represents a genuinely healthful phenomenon. It should also be noted that the direction of causality may differ from the direction we have proposed: Global meaning in life and trait PATs could constitute resilience qualities that determine the perceived stressfulness of an experienced event. In particular, some ATQP items (e.g., I have friends who support me, I enjoy a challenge, and I wont give up) could be construed as coping thoughts that arise in response to stressors and shape the perception of stress. Alternatively, persons with high frequencies of PATs could have a tendency to recall and perhaps exaggerate the impact of stressors that led to growth and to forget the impact of stressors that had less positive outcomes. Finally, PATs as measured by the trait ATQP may, in light of its factorial structure, constitute an index of selfesteem (as noted above), optimism, or well-being rather than a measure of cognitionsconstructs that also could plausibly help protect against stress. On the other hand, correlations of both PATs and meaning in life with event-related stress are quite modest and indicate that meaning could determine no more than 3.6% of the varianceand that PATs could determine no more than 6.7% of the variancein event-related stress. Similarly, level of PATs could not account for much of the variance in perceived event stressfulness, indicating that level of PATs is unlikely to determine event stressfulness. This is consistent with evidence that PATs as measured by the ATQP constitute a stable and dispositional quality that is unlikely to vary much with particular stressors. It remains possible, however, that the occurrence of stress activates particular PATs that serve as proximal coping aids and determine perception or recall of event stressfulness. These possibilities should be investigated in future longitudinal or experimental studies. With regard to the possibility that ATQP score reects selfesteem, recent data also indicate that trait PATs and self-esteem correlate from .38 (O. R. Lightsey, 2010, unpublished data) to .61 (Lightsey, Johnson, & Freeman, 2012) and thus overlap by 14%37%, which provides evidence that PATs are reasonably distinct from self-esteem. Multiwave panel studies that examine and compare alternative causal directions and inclusion of measures of self-esteem, optimism, and well-being in future studies of the PATs stressor interaction could help to more clearly rule out these alternative hypotheses. In a similar vein, questions may be raised about whether the trait ATQP in fact measures thoughts that arise concomitantly with belief activation or, rather, the important beliefs themselves. It should be noted in this regard that the factorial structures of state and trait versions of the ATQP are identical (Lightsey, 1992), that the trait ATQP has correlated .85 with the state ATQP, and that its 6-week testretest correlation of .65 is only incrementally higher than the 6-week testretest correlation of the original ATQP (.56; Lightsey, 1992). These data suggest that the trait ATQP measures a construct strongly akin to the

state (over the past week) thoughts measured by the original ATQP, although it remains possible that both state and trait versions of the ATQP are measures of deeper beliefs rather than automatic thoughts per se. Alternatively, although some theorists (Beck, 1967; McCann et al., 1988) have hypothesized that automatic thoughts arise when deep beliefs are activated, others have argued, with reference to automatic thoughts, that an habitual manner of thinking (McKellar, Malcarne, & Ingram, 1996, p. 243) may exist and may predispose persons to life experiences that lead to affect. Similarly, Lightsey (1994a) argued that trait forms of automatic thinking may affect both depression and happiness. If trait styles of automatic thinking exist, a large body of previous work (e.g., Watson et al., 1988; Zuckerman, 1960, 1983) indicates that trait instrument instructions would best tap these styles. Regardless of whether the ATQP measures stable forms of thinking or, rather, beliefs, results of the present study indicate that this construct moderates the event stressfulnessglobal meaning in life relationship and therefore may be an important means of maintaining or even augmenting global meaning in the face of a major stressor. Finally, it may be argued that some ATQP items (e.g., I have many friends who support me) and hence to some degree overall ATQP score may reect the presence of other resources such as social support. Although we know of no studies that have directly examined this possibility, validation studies have indicated that the ATQP demonstrates convergent and discriminant validity (e.g., small correlations with theoretically unrelated constructs such as social desirability, and moderate correlations with theoretically related constructs such as life satisfaction; Ingram et al., 1995). Future studies should examine the ability of the ATQP score to moderate the event stressfulnessmeaning relationship after controlling for social support, life satisfaction, and other constructs that appear to be reected in the content of particular ATQP items as well as interactions between these constructs and event stressfulness. Varied means of instilling and increasing positive thoughts are available. If future research conrms our ndings, clinicians may consider widely recommended and empirically sound cognitive behavioral techniques for reducing negative automatic thoughts and increasing PATs (e.g., Beck & Weishaar, 1989; Beck et al., 1979; Ellis, Gordon, Neenan, & Palmer, 1998; Taylor et al., 1997). Additionally, alternative methods that have received less empirical attention may be helpful. For example, interventions that replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts have increased self-esteem and have reduced anger and anxiety (Hains & Szyjakowski, 1990), rehearsing positive and adaptive thoughts may increase self-esteem and decrease depression (Bailey, 2004; Philpot & Bamburg, 1996), and optimism training appears to increase both positive cognitions and problem-solving self-efcacy (Riskind, Sarampote, & Mercier, 1996). Future research may examine whether in varied contexts (e.g., psychotherapy or the workplace) PATs account for the purported benets of positive affect. Ascertaining whether PATs that pertain to the stressor, to general life areas relevant to the stressor (e.g., interpersonal or achievement-related events), or to still broader realms (self, world, or others) best moderate stress effects would also be important, given evidence that only certain forms of PATs (e.g., positive thoughts about ones social

274

BOYRAZ AND LIGHTSEY

self-worth) moderated the relationship between future stress and dysphoria (Lightsey, 1994a). In light of evidence that benetnding in the face of highly challenging life events (i.e., posttraumatic growth) may be construed as one type of meaning-making that predicts positive adjustment (Davis, NolenHoeksema, & Larson, 1998), examination of the role of PATs in predicting posttraumatic growth or moderating the event stressfulnessposttraumatic growth relationship also is warranted. Comparing various methods of augmenting PATs and comparing the predictive utility of PATs versus alternative cognitive constructs (e.g., self-efcacy) with regard to varied outcomes also are recommended, in light of evidence that particular forms of self-efcacy (i.e., self-efcacy for goal attainment) predict growth (Kraaij et al., 2008). Finally, longitudinal studies in which longer chains of causality are studied (i.e., in which meaning in life is cast as a predictor or mediator rather than an outcome variable) are warranted. Paralleling ndings that secure attachment primes may have positive effects for many persons but may result in a reduction in positive affect and an increase in negative affect among persons with higher attachment anxiety (see Mallinckrodt, 2007, for a discussion), both plausible and implausible self-statements have resulted in linear increases in positive thoughts among persons who were socially secure, but implausible positive selfstatements have resulted in a decrease in positive thoughts among persons who rated themselves poor in social skills (Lee, 2006). Thus, exploration of conditions in which self-statement interventions result in fewer rather than more PATs and in which PATs result in worse rather than better outcomes also is warranted. Future research may also address broader conditions that facilitate initiation and maintenance of PATs and other forms of positive thinking. For example, in one study, 92% of participants reported that it was easier to generate positive thoughts in an upright position as opposed to a slumped position (Wilson & Peper, 2004). This is consistent with other evidence that postures and gestures affect emotions and decision making and suggests that counselors should be attentive to somatic and bodily factors as well as environmental and psychological factors. Finally, assessment of the means via which PATs may prevent the loss of meaning and augment the presence of meaning in the face of stress should be examined. Although it is plausible and consistent with several theories to posit a direct moderational effect, Park (2004) argued that positive coping may facilitate meaning-making, and recent evidence indicates that, in the absence of positive coping strategies, stressors predict loss of meaning (Jim et al., 2006). This nding raises the possibly that PATs prevent loss of meaning and augment the presence of meaning by leading to positive or proactive coping strategies. Similarly, given evidence that loss of control may account for the stressmeaninglessness relationship (Newcomb & Harlow, 1986), studies that test whether PATs enhance meaning via augmentation of self-efcacy beliefs are warranted.

mono-method bias. As noted, the correlational design cannot ascertain causation, and alternative explanations for ndings are possible. In this article, we focused only on prediction of global meaning and did not, per Park and Folkman (1997), integrate situational meaning with regard to the particular stressor or examine congruence between situational and global meaning. In addition, because our sample consisted primarily of college students from the southern United States, our ndings may not generalize to other populations. Furthermore, controlling for positive affect as measured over the past few weeks may not have fully controlled for trait positive affect, which would be better assessed using multiple assessments ofor a measure of trait or long-termpositive affect. It is nevertheless important to note in this regard that the testretest coefcient of positive affect as measured with past few weeks time frame instructions has been found to be psychometrically equivalent to the testretest coefcient of positive affect when measured with past year time frame instructions (Watson et al., 1988), and ostensible state and trait measures of positive affect have had equivalent correlations with other constructs (see Thoresen, Kaplan, Barsky, Warren, & de Chermont, 2003, for a discussion), reecting the strong dispositional component in positive affect even when it is measured with short-term time frame instructions (see Watson et al., 1988). Finally, it is important to note that nonexperimental studies have less power for detecting interaction effects than experimental studies (McClelland & Judd, 1993); thus, using an experimental study design may produce a greater effect size for the moderator effects we examined in this study. Notwithstanding these limitations, our study has produced important initial evidence that PATs moderate the event stressfulnessmeaning relationship such that only in the presence of infrequent PATs do highly stressful events predict lower meaning, and only in the presence of frequent PATs do highly stressful events predict higher meaning. Clarifying the meaning and generality of this nding awaits future studies. Keywords: global meaning; meaning in life; stressmeaning relationship; event stressfulness; stress moderator; positive thinking; positive automatic thoughts (PATs)

References
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Anderson, B. L., Kiecolt-Glaser, J., & Glaser, R. (1994). A biobehavioral model of cancer stress and disease course. American Psychologist, 49, 389404. Armeli, S., Gunthert, K. C., & Cohen, L. H. (2001). Stressor appraisals, coping, and post-event outcomes: The dimensionality and antecedents of stress-related growth. The Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 20, 366395. Bailey, H. A. (2004). Coue revisited: An internet-based investigation of repetition and positive self-statements on depression, self-esteem, and automatic thoughts. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 64(12B), 6348. Abstract retrieved from CSA.com. Bandura, A. (1997) Self-efcacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman. Barskova, T., & Oesterreich, R. (2009). Post-traumatic growth in people living with a serious medical condition and its relations to physical

Additional Limitations
In assessing these results and interpretations, it is important to underscore additional limitations of this study. All instruments were self-report, and results may therefore be subject to

POSITIVE COGNITIONS, EVENT-RELATED STRESS, AND MEANING and mental health: A systematic review. Disability and Rehabilitation, 31, 17091733. Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, experimental, and theoretical aspects. New York, NY: Harper & Row. Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York, NY: Guilford Press. Beck, A. T., & Weishaar, M. (1989). Cognitive therapy. In A. Freeman, K. M. Simon, L. E. Beutler, & H. Arkowitz (Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of cognitive therapy (pp. 2136). New York, NY: Plenum Press. Bekhet, A. K., Zauszniewski, J. A., & Wykle, M. L. (2008). Milieu change and relocation adjustment in elders. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 30, 113129. Bruch, M. A. (1997). Positive thoughts or cognitive balance as a moderator of the negative life events-dysphoria relationship: A reexamination. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21, 2538. Champoux, J. E., & Peters, W. S. (1987). Form, effect size, and power in moderated regression analysis. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 60, 243255. Chaplin, W. E. (1991). The next generation of moderator research in personality psychology. Journal of Personality, 59, 143178. Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155159. Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Cohen, S., & Edwards, J. R. (1989). Personality characteristics as moderators of the relationship between stress and disorder. In R. W. J. Neufeld (Ed.), Advances in the investigation of psychological stress (pp. 235283). Oxford, England: John Wiley & Sons. Damon, W., Menon, J., & Bronk, K. C. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 7, 119 128. Davis, C. G., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Larson, J. (1998). Making sense of loss and beneting from the experience: Two construals of meaning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 561574. Dweck, C. S. (2008). Can personality be changed? The role of beliefs in personality and change. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 391394. Ellis, A., Gordon, J., Neenan, M., & Palmer, S. (1998). Stress counseling: A rational emotive behavior approach. New York, NY: Springer. Fontana, A., & Rosenheck, R. (2005). The role of loss of meaning in the pursuit of treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18, 133136. Frankl, V. E. (1984). Mans search for meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Frazier, P. A., Tix, A. P., & Barron, K. E. (2004). Testing moderator and mediator effects in counseling psychology research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 51, 115134. Fredrickson, B. L. (2000). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being. Prevention & Treatment, 3, 4974. Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218226. Garamoni, G. L., Reynolds, C. F., Thase, M. E., Frank, E., & Fasiczka, A. L. (1992). Shifts in affective balance during cognitive therapy of major depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 260266. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.60.2.260 Garnefski, N., Kraaij, V., Schroevers, M. J., & Somsen, G. A. (2008). Post-traumatic growth after a myocardial infarction: A matter of personality, psychological health, or cognitive coping? Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 15, 270277. Gosling, S. D., Vazire, S., Srivastava, S., & John, O. P. (2004). Should we trust web-based studies? A comparative analysis of six preconceptions about internet questionnaires. American Psychologist, 59, 93104.

275

Gregory, E. M. (2003). Psychological engagement in daily life. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 63(7B), 3514. Abstract retrieved from CSA.com. Hains, A. A., & Szyjakowski, M. (1990). A cognitive stress-reduction intervention program for adolescents. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 37, 7984. Herbert, T. B., & Cohen, S. (1993). Stress and immunity in humans: A meta-analytic review. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 364379. Ingram, R. E., Atkinson, J. H., Slater, M. A., Saccuzzo, D. P., & Garn, S. R. (1990). Negative and positive cognition in depressed and nondepressed chronic-pain patients. Health Psychology, 9, 300 314. Ingram, R. E., Kendall, P. C., Siegle, G., Guarino, J., & McLaughlin, S. C. (1995). Psychometric properties of the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 7, 495507. Ingram, R. E., & Wisnicki, K. S. (1988). Assessment of positive automatic cognition. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 898902. Jacobson, J. L. (2002). An exploratory study regarding the effects of praying for others on physical and mental health in older adults. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 63(5-B), 2587B. Jim, H. S., & Andersen, B. L. (2007). Meaning in life mediates the relationship between social functioning and distress in cancer survivors. British Journal of Health Psychology, 12, 363381. Jim, H. S., Richardson, S. A., Golden-Kreutz, D. M., & Anderson, B. L. (2006). Strategies used in coping with a cancer diagnosis predict meaning in life for survivors. Health Psychology, 25, 753761. Jolly, J. B., & Wiesner, D. C. (1996). Psychometric properties of the Automatic Thoughts QuestionnairePositive with inpatient adolescents. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 20, 481498. Joseph, S., & Linley, A. P. (2008). Positive psychological perspectives on posttraumatic stress: An integrative psychosocial framework. In S. Joseph & A. P. Linley (Eds.), Trauma, recovery, and growth: Positive psychological perspectives on posttraumatic stress (pp. 321). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Viewed at http://catalogimages.wiley.com/images/db/pdf/9780470075029.excerpt.pdf King, L. A., Hicks, J. A., Krull, J. L., & Del Gaiso, A. K. (2006). Positive affect and the experience of meaning in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 179196. Kraaij, V., Garnefski, N., Schroevers, M. J., van der Veek, S. M. C., Witlox, R., & Maes, S. (2008). Cognitive coping, goal self-efcacy and personal growth in HIV-infected men who have sex with men. Patient Education and Counseling, 72, 301304. Krause, N. (2004). Stressors arising in highly valued roles, meaning in life, and the physical health status of older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 59B, S287S291. Kraut, R., Olson, J., Banaji, M., Bruckman, A., Cohen, J., & Couper, M. (2004). Psychological research online: Report of Board of Scientic Affairs Advisory Group on the conduct of research on the internet. American Psychologist, 59, 105117. Krohne, H. W., Pieper, M., Knoll, N., & Breimer, N. (2002). The cognitive regulation of emotions: The role of success versus failure experience and coping dispositions. Cognition & Emotion, 16, 217 243. Lang, J., & Lang, J. (2010). Priming competence diminishes the link between cognitive test anxiety and test performance: Implications for the interpretation of test scores. Psychological Science, 21, 811 819. Lee, J. W. (2006). The paradoxical effect of positive self-statements. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 66(10-B), 5687.

276

BOYRAZ AND LIGHTSEY Park, K. (2003). Meaning in life as a predictor of outcome in chronic pain patients: A quantitative and qualitative study. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 63(8-B), 3933B. Peacock, E. J., & Wong, P. T. (1990). The Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM): A multidimensional approach to cognitive appraisal. Stress Medicine, 6, 227236. Philpot, V. D., & Bamburg, J. W. (1996). Rehearsal of positive self-statements and restructured negative self-statements to increase self-esteem and decrease depression. Psychological Reports, 79, 8391. Pressman, S. D., & Cohen, S. (2005). Does positive affect inuence health? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 925971. Riskind, J. H., Sarampote, C. S., & Mercier, M. A. (1996). For every malady a sovereign cure: Optimism training. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 10, 105117. Rusting, C. L. (1998). Personality, mood, and cognitive processing of emotional information: Three conceptual frameworks. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 165196. Rusting, C. L. (1999). Interactive effects of personality and mood on emotion-congruent memory and judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 10731086. Ryff, C. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 10691081. Schwartz, R. M. (1986). The internal dialogue: On the asymmetry between positive and negative coping thoughts. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 10, 591605. Segerstrom, S., & Sephton, S. (2010). Optimistic expectancies and cellmediated immunity: The role of positive affect. Psychological Science, 21, 448455. doi:10.1177/0956797610362061 Shedler, J., Mayman, M., & Manis, M. (1993). The illusion of mental health. American Psychologist, 48, 11171131. Shiraishi, S. (2005). Cognitive therapy for reducing and preventing depressive moods: A practical study with undergraduates. Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology, 53, 252262. Soper, D. S. (2006-2009). Interaction! (Version 1.3.1869) [Computer software]. Retrieved from http://www.danielsoper.com/interaction/ Steger, M. F., & Frazier, P. (2005). Meaning in life: One link in the chain from religiousness to well-being. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 574582. Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The Meaning in Life Questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 8093. Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1994). Illusion of mental health does not explain positive illusions. American Psychologist, 49, 972973. Taylor, S., Woody, S., Koch, W. J., McLean, P., Paterson, R. J., & Anderson, K. W. (1997). Cognitive restructuring in the treatment of social phobia. Behavior Modication, 21, 487511. Tedeschi, R. G. (1999). Violence transformed: Posttraumatic growth in survivors and their societies. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 4, 319341. Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1996). The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 455471. Thoresen, C. J., Kaplan, S. A., Barsky, A. P., Warren, C. R., & de Chermont, K. (2003). The affective underpinnings of job perceptions and attitudes: A meta-analytic review and integration. Psychological Bulletin, 6, 914945. Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). Resilient individuals use positive emotions to bounce back from negative emotional experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 320333. Wallace, J. F., & Newman, J. P. (1997). Neuroticism and attentional mediation of dysregulatory psychopathology. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21, 135156.

Lightsey, O. R., Jr. (1992). Cognitions as trait-like vulnerability factors: The viability of trait positive and negative thoughts as predictors of future depressive reactions (Doctoral dissertation). Lightsey, O. R., Jr. (1994a). Thinking Positive as a stress-buffer: The role of positive automatic cognitions in depression and happiness. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 41, 325334. Lightsey, O. R., Jr. (1994b). Positive automatic cognitions as moderators of the negative life event-dysphoria relationship. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 18, 353365. Lightsey, O. R., Jr. (1996). What leads to wellness? The role of psychological resources in well-being. Counseling Psychologist, 24, 589759. Lightsey, O. R., Jr. (1999). Positive thoughts versus States of Mind ratio as a stress moderator: Findings across four studies. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 23, 469482. Lightsey, O. R., Jr. (2006). Resilience, meaning, and well-being. The Counseling Psychologist, 34, 96107. doi:10.1177/0011000005282369 Lightsey, O. R., Jr., & Boyraz, G. (2011). Do positive thinking and meaning mediate the positive affect-life satisfaction relationship? Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 43, 203213. doi:10.1037/ a0023150 Lightsey, O. R., Jr., Johnson, E., & Freeman, P. (2012). Can positive thinking reduce negative affect? A test of potential mediating mechanisms. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 26, 7188. doi:10.1891/ 0889-8391.26.1.71 Lyubomirsky, S. (2001). Why are some people happier than others? The role of cognitive and motivational processes in well-being. American Psychologist, 56, 239249. Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benets of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803855. Mallinckrodt, B. (2007). A call to broaden and build Mikulincer and Shavers work on the benets of priming attachment security. Psychological Inquiry, 18, 168172. McCann, I. L., Sakheim, D. K., & Abrahamson, D. J. (1988). Trauma and victimization: A model of psychological adaptation. Counseling Psychologist, 16, 531594. McClelland, G. H., & Judd, C. M. (1993). Statistical difculties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 376390. McKellar, J. D., Malcarne, V. L., & Ingram, R. E. (1996). Statesof-mind and negative affectivity. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 20, 235346. doi:10.1007/BF02229235 Meyerson, P., & Tryon, W. W. (2003). Validating internet research: A test of the psychometric equivalence of internet and in-person samples. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments and Computers, 35, 614620. Miller, E. T., Neal, D. J., Roberts, L. J., Baer, J. S., Cressler, S. O., Metrik, J., & Marlatt, G. A. (2002). Test-retest reliability of alcohol measures: Is there a difference between internet-based assessment and traditional methods? Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16, 5663. Missel, P., & Sommer, G. (1983). Depression and self-verbalization. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 7, 141148. Newcomb, M. D., & Harlow, L. L. (1986). Life events and substance use among adolescents: Mediating effects of perceived loss of control and meaninglessness in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 564577. OLeary, A. (1992). Self-efcacy and health: Behavioral and stress-physiological mediation. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 16, 229245. Park, C. L. (2004). The notion of stress-related growth: Problems and prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 6976. Park, C. L., Cohen, L. H., & Murch, R. L. (1996). Assessment and prediction of stress-related growth. Journal of Personality, 64, 71105. Park, C. L., & Folkman, S. (1997). Meaning in the context of stress and coping. Review of General Psychology, 1, 115144.

POSITIVE COGNITIONS, EVENT-RELATED STRESS, AND MEANING Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 10631070. Wilson, V. E., & Peper, E. (2004). The effects of upright and slumped postures on the recall of positive and negative thoughts. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 29, 189195. Zoellner, T., & Maercker, A. (2006). Posttraumatic growth in clinical psychologyA critical review and introduction of a two component model. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 626653.

277

Zuckerman, M. (1960). The development of an affect adjective checklist for the measurement of anxiety. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 457462. doi:10.1037/h0042713 Zuckerman, M. (1983). The distinction between trait and state scales is not arbitrary: Comment on Allen and Potkays On the arbitrary distinction between traits and states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 10831086. doi:10.1037/00223514.44.5.1083
j