Associations of empowerment and coping styles with meaning in life in peritoneal dialysis patients: a cross-sectional study

Aim This study aimed to investigate the current status of meaning in life and to examine the associations of empowerment and coping styles with meaning in life in peritoneal dialysis patients. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 246 peritoneal dialysis patients from two the outpatient clinics of two tertiary hospitals in Wuhan, China. Participants completed a set of questionnaires, including a general information questionnaire, Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire (MCMQ), the peritoneal dialysis empowerment scale-short form (PDES-SF), and the Chinese version of meaning in life questionnaire (C-MLQ). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analyses and hierarchical multiple linear regression with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results The mean meaning in life (MIL) score was 43.60 ± 10.49. Hierarchical regression showed that higher empowerment ( B = 0.892, 95% CI: 0.653–1.132, β = 0.450, p < 0.001) and greater use of confrontive coping ( B = 0.553, 95% CI: 0.217–0.888, β = 0.185, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with higher MIL scores, whereas Acceptance-resignation was negatively associated with MIL ( B = −0.460, 95% CI: −0.805 to −0.115, β = −0.150, p = 0.009). The final model explained 56.2% of the variance. Conclusion Empowerment and confrontive coping were positively associated with MIL in PD patients. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing patient empowerment and promoting adaptive coping may be promising targets for future research, but causal inferences require longitudinal or experimental studies.