There has been an increasing interest in the measurement of patients effortsto find meaning during the experience of a life-threatening illness. The aimof this study was to validate the German version of the Life AttitudeProfile–Revised (LAP-R), a multidimensional measure of meaningand purpose.

A total of 511 prostate cancer patients with an average age of 64 yearsfilled in the questionnaire during outpatient follow up care (response rate70%).

Five of the original six dimensions were replicated by exploratory andconfirmatory factor analysis: Coherence, Existential Vacuum,Choice/Responsibleness, Death Acceptance, and Goal Seeking. The Purposedimension was not replicated. Most LAP-R subscales showed good internalconsistencies with Cronbach's α between .80 and .82,whereas the reliability for Existential Vacuum(α = .69) and Goal Seeking(α = .74) was less sufficient,but still acceptable. Results show significant concurrent associationsbetween all LAP-R dimensions and measures of emotional distress, coping, andhealth-related quality of life; however, moderate correlations were foundonly for Existential Vacuum and depression, and inversely for depressivecoping and the mental health subscale.

The German LAP-R is a reliable and valid instrument that can be recommendedfor further use in research and clinical cancer care.