The relationship between the meaning in life and the subjective vitality in people with disabilities

The link between the meaning in life and the subjective vitality is not clear in people with disabilities. The aim of the research here presented was to investigate the main effects and the interaction effects of the presence of the meaning in life (PML) and search for the meaning in life (SML) on the subjective vitality (SV) in people with disabilities. An online cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 1018 individuals with disabilities in the U.S. Participants completed the meaning in life and subjective vitality measures. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that people with acquired and progressive disabilities had lower vitality compared to people with congenital disabilities. Moreover, the presence of and search for the meaning in life had positive main effects on subjective vitality, highlighting that the search for meaning does not lead to a decrease in vitality. A significant but weak negative correlation was also found between the presence of and search for the meaning in life. The positive effect of the presence of the meaning in life increased with a decrease in the level of search for the meaning in life. These findings further indicate that individuals with disabilities who cope with challenging life experiences may foster a balance between the presence of the meaning and search for the meaning in life and stabilize their meaning system.