development of life meaning as a coping strategy among spouses of post-traumatic stress disorder war veterans: a qualitative study

Aims: living with post-traumatic stress disorder veterans imposes severe stress on veterans’ family members, especially veteran’s spouses. this study aimed to discover and explore coping strategies to advance and maintain the cohesion of life. participants & methods: current study was conducted in 2021 using a qualitative content analysis approach. participants were selected purposely from post-traumatic stress disorder veterans’ spouses. data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 post-traumatic stress disorder veterans’ spouses. and then analyzed according to graneheim & lundman’s method.findings: through analysis of transcribed interviews, 1 theme, 4 categories, and 8 subcategories were extracted. the theme was developing life meaning and categories including developing value base approach, altruistic preservation, beyond-defined gender roles, and mutually beneficial care.conclusion: in confronting with full of tension in life and lack of support, developing the meaning of life can be led to wide and deep changes in the encyclopedia and the meaning of wives’ life, and these changes can make them better and more optimal in confronting life challenges.