What doesn't kill you (sometimes) makes you stronger: The role of growth, meaning, and perceived control after trauma.

OBJECTIVE

Meaning making is a central process in trauma recovery, yet findings regarding its impact on psychological outcomes are inconsistent. In two studies, we examined the relationship between search for meaning, posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptomatology, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) and whether locus of control (LOC) moderated these associations.

METHOD: Two studies used online cross-sectional surveys of U.S. adults (53.69% cisgender women; Mage = 39.16, SDage = 13.94). In Study 1 (N = 150), participants completed measures of PTS symptomatology, depression, anxiety, meaning in life, and PTG and provided open-ended responses describing their meaning-making strategies. In Study 2 (N = 582), participants completed the same measures and measures of LOC to test the moderating effect of LOC while controlling for trauma exposure and recency. Participants represented diverse ages, genders, and racial/ethnic backgrounds.

RESULTS

Across both studies, the presence of meaning was associated with lower PTS symptomatology and higher PTG, while searching for meaning was linked to greater PTS symptomatology and unrelated to PTG. Participants who focused on a lack of control reported lower symptomatology. In Study 2, individuals with high meaning but low internal LOC reported more distress than those with high internal LOC. Searching for meaning was more strongly associated with distress among individuals with high belief in chance, but belief in powerful others did not moderate outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Meaning making and perceived control shape trauma recovery. Clinicians should consider clients' control beliefs when implementing meaning-centered interventions by fostering internal control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).