Abstract
M.A.
Late adolescence/young adulthood is characterised by turbulence and major life
transitions, and individuals in this life stage are confronted with stressors on a daily
basis (Santrock, 2003). This situation necessitates adequate coping so that these
young people can negotiate the transition between childhood and adulthood
successfully. Health practitioners and educators need to establish ways to enhance
adequate coping in young people in order to minimise their stress and ward off
negative and unwanted consequences of stressors; consequences such as addictions,
suicide, depression and other pathologies (Frydenberg & Lewis, 2004; Puskar, Hoover
& Miewald, 1992). Research shows that more and more young people are reporting
that their lives seem hopeless and meaningless (Santrock, 2003). Clearly it is
beneficial to investigate the relationship between meaning, well-being and coping
with stress in young adults.
Past research has investigated meaning in life and sense of coherence and other wellbeing
measures on adults who have already established themselves, and very specific
samples, such as elderly people, the terminally ill and employees in the workplace (for
example Marais & Stuart, 2005; Shek, 2003; Strümpfer & Mlonzi, 2001; Yiu-Kee &
Tang, 2005). However, researchers have debated the extent to which any real
progress has been made in the field of stress and coping (see Coyne & Racioppo,
2000; Lazarus, 2000; Lewis & Frydenberg, 2002; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi,
2000; Somerfield & McCrae, 2000). These and other studies have been critically
evaluated in the current study, and it is clear that research is needed on meaning in life
and well-being in late adolescence/young adulthood in order to assess how young
people cope with stressors. Furthermore, research is needed on young people in SouthAfrica, in order to ascertain how they cope with stressors that may be countryspecific.
The overall aim of the study was to establish whether there are relationships between
meaning in life, sense of coherence and the ability to cope in young adults. More
specifically, the study aimed to ascertain whether the extent to which an individual
has discovered meaning in life and the extent to which he/she has developed a sense
of coherence predicts coping with stress in a late adolescent/young adult population.
A quantitative research methodology was conducted on a sample of male and female
young adults (N=258). The participants were selected from a tertiary institution and
had an average age range of 17 to 21 years. The measurement instruments have been
used in previous research and were deemed culturally fair with valid and reliable
psychometric properties. All three questionnaires were self-report measures. In order
to assess the extent to which an individual has found meaning in their lives, the
Purpose in Life Test (Crumbaugh & Maholick, 1981) was used. To ascertain whether
or not an individual had developed a strong sense of coherence, the Orientation to Life
questionnaire, also known as the Sense of Coherence scale (Antonovsky, 1987) was
used. The Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993) was used to
determine the ability to cope in young people.
Various statistical analyses were conducted on the raw data collected from the
questionnaires. Factor analyses were conducted to determine the internal validity and
reliability of the measuring instruments. The distribution of the data within the
subscales was tested for normality. Analysis of variance was used to determinewhether certain biographical variables could account for any differences in meaning
in life, sense of coherence and ability to cope. Pearson product moment correlations
were used. Thereafter both multiple regression and logistic regression were
performed to determine if meaning in life and sense of coherence can predict
differences in ability to cope.
The results indicate that the constructs explored, as measured by the questionnaires,
were not influenced by the age, gender, home language or direction of study of the
participants. The sample could therefore be regarded as fairly homogeneous and the
effect of confounding variables limited. However, as a result of this homogeneity, the
findings of this study cannot necessarily be generalised to other populations.
Findings indicate that there are relationships between meaning in life and the ability to
cope. This finding points to the possibility that the extent to which an individual has
discovered meaning in life, or the extent to which an individual views his or her life as
meaningful is related to his or her ability to select effective coping strategies.
Furthermore it was found that there are relationships between sense of coherence as
well as the individual components of sense of coherence, namely comprehensibility,
manageability and meaningfulness, and the ability to cope. This finding suggests that
the extent to which an individual has developed a sense of coherence is related to his
or her ability to select effective coping strategies.