PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to explore and understand life and meaning in life of elementary school students.
METHODS
Data from 1,790 higher grade elementary school students were analyzed for content of meaning in life.
RESULTS
The students described the following: 1) Meanings of living existence included, 'living things', 'importance', 'human life', 'family', 'event', 'eternity', 'origin of life', 'disease', and, 'protection'. 2) Four categories were found for reasons why human life is important, 'solitary', 'limitation', 'valuables', and 'living'. 3) Things that one can do to protect the value of human life were, 'doing safely', 'keep things well', 'altruistic behavior', 'doing sound activity', 'preservation & development', and 'devotion of oneself'. 4) Meaning of life included 'to accomplish plans', and 'to do things' 5) Cases when students felt life had meaning were 'perform meaningful behavior', 'comfortable emotionally', and 'receiving help from others'. 6) The methods by which to live a meaningful life were 'working diligently', 'serving', and 'doing rightly'.
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that students recognize the meaning of life in a most positive way and with a relatively wide scope, but as a few students had a negative orientation, age-appropriate and more systematic education programs are needed.

Citations

• Assessing quality of life among elementary school students: Validation of the Korean version of the Meaning in Life in Children Questionnaire
  Younyoung Choi, Joo Yeon Shin
  Frontiers in Psychology.2022;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Content analysis of the way university students appreciate the meaning of life
  Bock-Soon Park, Eun-Young Choi, Sang-Yong Park, Sun-Jung Park
  Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperati.2016; 17(4): 160.     CrossRef
• Analysis of Life Respect-related Content Portrayed in the 7th to 10th Grade Textbooks in Middle and High Schools.
  Kyung Ah Kang, Young Hee Kim, Jung Jae Lee, Myung Nam Lee
  Child Health Nursing Research.2013; 19(4): 282.     CrossRef
• Development and Evaluation of a Finding Meaning in Life CD Program for Life-esteemed Education of Older School-age Children
  Kyung-Ah Kang, Shin-Jeong Kim, Mi-Kyung Song
  The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing .2011; 17(3): 487.     CrossRef

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of spiritual well-being and meaning in life for adolescents with leukemia.
METHODS
Participants were 102 adolescents (11-21 years) recruited at C university hospital from June to August in 2014. The eligible participants were diagnosed with leukemia and are on follow-up care at the outpatient clinic. Participants were assessed for spiritual well-being, meaning in life, self-esteem, and social support.
RESULTS
Levels of spiritual well-being and meaning in life for these adolescents with leukemia were 3.69 out of 6 and 3.10 out of 4, respectively. Self-esteem and social support from family were factors affecting spiritual well-being. Self-esteem, existential well-being and social support from family and friends were predictive for meaning in life and accounted for 68% of total variance.
CONCLUSION
The results show that there are several factors affecting spiritual well-being and meaning in life in adolescents with leukemia. Therefore, nursing intervention programs for adolescents with leukemia should include strengthening self-esteem and social support as well as considering the spiritual aspect of life in order to find meaning in life beyond leukemia.

Citations

• Identification of Evidence for Key Positive Psychological Constructs in Pediatric and Adolescent/Young Adult Patients with Cancer: A Scoping Review
  Cole Wayant, Jack Manquen, Hannah Wendelbo, Natalie Kerr, Matt Crow, Jon Goodell, Andrea C. Tricco, Jennifer W. Mack, Chan Hellman, Matt Vassar
  Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology.2021; 10(3): 247.     CrossRef
• Difficulty in returning to school among adolescent leukemia survivors: A qualitative descriptive study
  Hyeran An, Sunhee Lee
  European Journal of Oncology Nursing.2019; 38: 70.     CrossRef