Meaning-making is rarer for traumatic memories than for self-defining memories.

Meaning-making after a traumatic event is associated with post-traumatic growth.

Meaning-making after a traumatic event is not associated with PTSD.

The ability to find meaning in life-events is associated with post-traumatic growth.

The ability to find meaning in life-events is associated with well-being.

Traumatic events may deeply modify one's views on oneself, others and the world. Finding meaning after traumatic events may be determinant to psychological adjustment and post-traumatic growth.

Our study aims at investigating the association of narrative meaning-making with post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress disorder among individuals exposed to a terrorist attack.

We recruited participants exposed to December 2018 Strasbourg Christmas market attack. The participants narrated three memories: their experience of the terrorist attack (TAM) and two self-defining memories (SDMs). Each narrative was assessed in terms of meaning-making. A total meaning score was calculated to express the cumulated presence of meaning in the three memories. Post-traumatic growth and PTSD were assessed by the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and the Post-traumatic Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), respectively.

Thirty-six participants took part to the study and 108 memories were recorded. Post-traumatic growth was relevantly associated with meaning-making for TAMs (Pr (meaning > no meaning) = 0.993) and with the total meaning score (Pr (β > 0) = 0.998); while PTSD was not (Pr (meaning > no meaning) = 0.941 and = 0.618, respectively). In multivariate analyses, both meaning-making for TAMs (Pr (meaning > no meaning) = 0.984) and the total meaning score (Pr (meaning > no meaning) = 0.976) remained associated with post-traumatic growth.

A general meaning-making ability after striking life-events may contribute to the emergence of post-traumatic growth after a traumatic event. Our findings suggest new directions emphasizing on meaning-making in trauma-focused therapies.

Meaning-making

Post-traumatic growth

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Terrorist attack

Autobiographical reasoning

© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.