A Forgiveness Intervention for Women With Fibromyalgia Who Were Abused in Childhood: A Pilot Study

This pilot study compared the efficacy of a forgiveness intervention with a fibromyalgia (FM) health intervention on women with FM who have experienced emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, and emotional or physical neglect, in childhood by one of their parents. Eleven women with FM between the ages of 21 and 68 were randomized to the forgiveness intervention (n = 5) or the FM health intervention (n = 6), and completed the once-weekly individualized program for 24 weeks. The participants completed measures assessing forgiveness, overall FM health, depression, anger, anxiety, self-esteem, and coping strategies at the pretest, the posttest, and the 12-week follow-up test. They also completed the forgiveness intervention and FM health intervention final tests at the posttest, which assessed their knowledge on forgiveness and FM health. The forgiveness intervention participants had greater improvements in forgiveness (p < .001) and overall FM health (p = .046) from the pretest to the posttest, and in forgiveness (p = .018) and state anger (p = .027) from the pretest to the follow-up test than the FM health intervention participants. Moreover, the forgiveness intervention participants scored higher on the forgiveness final test than the FM health intervention participants (p < .001), and the FM health intervention participants scored higher on the FM health final test than the forgiveness intervention participants (p < .001). The results indicate that the forgiveness intervention was potentially helpful in improving forgiveness and overall FM health, and in decreasing state anger of this particular sample of women with FM.

Self-forgiveness in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

This study investigated whether low levels of self-forgiveness were associated with eating disorder symptomatology. Participating women (N = 51) had diagnoses of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or no eating disorder diagnosis. They completed 3 measures of self-forgiveness. Women with eating disorders had lower levels of self-forgiveness compared with control participants. Results suggest that incorporating self-forgiveness interventions into current eating disorder treatments should be evaluated in future research as they might enhance clinical outcomes.

The effects of a forgiveness intervention on patients with coronary artery disease

This research assesses the effects of a psychology of forgiveness pilot study on anger-recall stress induced changes in myocardial perfusion, forgiveness and related variables. Thirty-two patients were administered baseline rest and anger-recall stress imaging studies, and 17 of these participants who demonstrated anger-recall stress induced myocardial perfusion defects (forgiveness group, n = 9; control group, n = 8) were randomly assigned to a series of 10 weekly interpersonal forgiveness or control therapy sessions with a trained psychologist, and underwent additional anger-recall stress myocardial perfusion nuclear imaging studies post-test and at 10-week follow-up. Patients assigned to the forgiveness group showed significantly fewer anger-recall induced myocardial perfusion defects from pre-test to the 10-week follow-up as well as significantly greater gains in forgiveness from pre-test to post-test and from pre-test to follow-up compared to the control group. Forgiveness intervention may be an effective means of reducing anger-induced myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease.

Belongingness as a Protective Factor Against Loneliness and Potential Depression in a Multicultural Middle School

This study examines belongingness as a strengths-based protective factor. Belongingness is investigated in relationship to the threat of low peer acceptance for loneliness and of high loneliness for depression in adolescents. Data were collected from peers for adolescents’ peer acceptance and from adolescents themselves for other variables. Ratings of peers and self-reported survey data were analyzed together from data collected from 294 eighth-grade students from a culturally and ethnically diverse school. Results indicated belongingness was a significant moderator of the influence of peer acceptance on loneliness and of loneliness on depression. This suggests that belongingness is a potentially important buffer against the negative effects of low peer acceptance and high loneliness. Implications for counseling psychologists working with ethnically diverse adolescents are discussed.

A palliative care intervention in forgiveness therapy for elderly terminally ill cancer patients

Palliative care is now considered an essential part of end-of-life care, yet little research examines the efficacy of interventions addressing the psychological treatment of dying patients. Forgiveness therapy has been shown to be effective in improving psychological well-being and may provide a valuable addition to a terminal cancer patient's overall treatment plan. This study experimentally tested the effectiveness of a four-week forgiveness therapy in improving the quality of life of elderly terminally ill cancer patients. Participants (n = 20) were randomly assigned to a forgiveness therapy group or to a wait-list control group, which received forgiveness therapy in the second four-week period. All participants completed instruments measuring forgiveness, hope, quality of life, and anger at pre-test, post-test 1, and post-test 2. The forgiveness therapy group showed greater improvement than the control group, with one-tailed t-tests, on all measures. After receiving forgiveness therapy, participants in both forgiveness treatment conditions demonstrated significant improvements on all measures. The aggregated effect size was large. The four-week forgiveness therapy demonstrated psychological benefits for elderly terminally ill cancer patients and thus may be an appropriate addition to the treatment plan for terminal cancer patients.

Further validation of the Dutch version of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory

This study examined the reliability, construct validity, and factor pattern of the Dutch version of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI) in a sample of 731 respondents (heterosexually married adults, 359 males and 372 females) in Belgium. The Cronbach alpha for EFI total (.98) and all its subscales, Positive Affect (PA) (.95), Negative Affect (NA) (.92), Positive Behaviour (PB) (.94), Negative Behaviour (NB) (.94), Positive Cognition (PC) (.95), Negative Cognition (NC) (.93) were high. The construct validity of the scale was measured by a 1-item scale. The 1-item scale proved to be positive, strong and significantly (p < .001) correlated with EFI (.73). Principal components analysis in an Initial Factor Method found a one-factor solution confirming the unidimensional structure of EFI.

The effects of forgiveness therapy on depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress for women after spousal emotional abuse

Emotionally abused women experience negative psychological outcomes long after the abusive spousal relationship has ended. This study compares forgiveness therapy (FT) with an alternative treatment (AT; anger validation, assertiveness, interpersonal skill building) for emotionally abused women who had been permanently separated for 2 or more years (M = 5.00 years, SD = 2.61; n = 10 per group). Participants, who were matched, yoked, and randomized to treatment group, met individually with the intervener. Mean intervention time was 7.95 months (SD = 2.61). The relative efficacy of FT and AT was assessed at p < .05. Participants in FT experienced significantly greater improvement than AT participants in depression, trait anxiety, posttraumatic stress symptoms, self-esteem, forgiveness, environmental mastery, and finding meaning in suffering, with gains maintained at follow-up (M = 8.35 months, SD = 1.53). FT has implications for the long-term recovery of postrelationship emotionally abused women.

The effects of forgiveness therapy on depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress for women after spousal emotional abuse

Emotionally abused women experience negative psychological outcomes long after the abusive spousal relationship has ended. This study compares forgiveness therapy (FT) with an alternative treatment (AT; anger validation, assertiveness, interpersonal skill building) for emotionally abused women who had been permanently separated for 2 or more years (M = 5.00 years, SD = 2.61; n = 10 per group). Participants, who were matched, yoked, and randomized to treatment group, met individually with the intervener. Mean intervention time was 7.95 months (SD = 2.61). The relative efficacy of FT and AT was assessed at p < .05. Participants in FT experienced significantly greater improvement than AT participants in depression, trait anxiety, posttraumatic stress symptoms, self-esteem, forgiveness, environmental mastery, and finding meaning in suffering, with gains maintained at follow-up (M = 8.35 months, SD = 1.53). FT has implications for the long-term recovery of postrelationship emotionally abused women.

Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on Anger, Mood, and Vulnerability to Substance Use Among Inpatient Substance-Dependent Clients

Anger and related emotions have been identified as triggers in substance use. Forgiveness therapy (FT) targets anger, anxiety, and depression as foci of treatment. Fourteen patients with substance dependence from a local residential treatment facility were randomly assigned to and completed either 12 approximately twice-weekly sessions of individual FT or 12 approximately twice-weekly sessions of an alternative individual treatment based on routine drug and alcohol therapy topics. Participants who completed FT had significantly more improvement in total and trait anger, depression, total and trait anxiety, self-esteem, forgiveness, and vulnerability to drug use than did the alternative treatment group. Most benefits of FT remained significant at 4-month follow-up. These results support FT as an efficacious newly developed model for residential drug rehabilitation.

Forgiveness intervention with postabortion men

An intervention designed to foster forgiveness was implemented with postabortion men. Participants were randomly assigned to either the treatment or the control (wait list) condition, which received treatment after a 12-week waiting period. Following treatment, the participants demonstrated a significant gain in forgiveness and significant reductions in anxiety, anger, and grief as compared with controls. Similar significant findings were evident among control participants after they participated in the treatment. Maintenance of psychological benefits among the 1st set of participants was demonstrated at a 3-month follow-up.

Forgiveness intervention with postabortion men

An intervention designed to foster forgiveness was implemented with postabortion men. Participants were randomly assigned to either the treatment or the control (wait list) condition, which received treatment after a 12-week waiting period. Following treatment, the participants demonstrated a significant gain in forgiveness and significant reductions in anxiety, anger, and grief as compared with controls. Similar significant findings were evident among control participants after they participated in the treatment. Maintenance of psychological benefits among the 1st set of participants was demonstrated at a 3-month follow-up.

The development of forgiveness in the context of adolescent friendship conflict in Korea

A developmental pattern of understanding interpersonal forgiveness is proposed and examined with 30 junior high and 30 college students in Seoul, Korea. Three questions are asked: Does the developmental sequence in understanding forgiveness relate to age? Is there a relation between the understanding of forgiveness and the degree of forgiveness offered to one's offending friend? Is there a relation between the way people understand forgiveness and how they go about restoring an actual friendship in conflict? All participants had serious and unfair conflicts with their close friends during the past 5 to 6 months. Results support a developmental sequence in Korea and the observed relation between the sequence and actual friendship restoration strategies. There was at least partial statistical support for the relation between understanding forgiveness and the participants' forgiving behaviour in real life situations. Implications are drawn for the study and implementation of forgiveness in adolescents.

Forgiveness as an intervention goal with incest survivors

An intervention, with forgiveness toward their abuser as the goal, was implemented with 12 female incest survivors. The women, from a midwestern city, were 24 to 54 years old, and all were Caucasian. A yoked, randomized experimental and control group design was used. The participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (receiving the forgiveness intervention immediately) or a waiting-list control group (receiving the intervention when their matched experimental counterpart finished the intervention). Each participant met individually with the intervener once per week. The average length of the intervention for the 12 participants was 14.3 months. A process model of forgiveness was used as the focus of intervention. Dependent variables included forgiveness, self-esteem, hope, psychological depression, and state-trait anxiety scales. After the intervention, the experimental group gained more than the control group in forgiveness and hope and decreased significantly more than the control group in anxiety and depression. When the control group then began the program they showed similar change patterns to the above, as well as in self-esteem improvement.

Forgiveness as an intervention goal with incest survivors

An intervention, with forgiveness toward their abuser as the goal, was implemented with 12 female incest survivors. The women, from a midwestern city, were 24 to 54 years old, and all were Caucasian. A yoked, randomized experimental and control group design was used. The participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (receiving the forgiveness intervention immediately) or a waiting-list control group (receiving the intervention when their matched experimental counterpart finished the intervention). Each participant met individually with the intervener once per week. The average length of the intervention for the 12 participants was 14.3 months. A process model of forgiveness was used as the focus of intervention. Dependent variables included forgiveness, self-esteem, hope, psychological depression, and state-trait anxiety scales. After the intervention, the experimental group gained more than the control group in forgiveness and hope and decreased significantly more than the control group in anxiety and depression. When the control group then began the program they showed similar change patterns to the above, as well as in self-esteem improvement.

The adolescent as forgiver

A social cognitive developmental model of forgiveness is described and tested in two studies, the second being a replication of the first. In study 1, 59 subjects in grades 4, 7, 10, college and in adulthood were given a forgiveness interview that assessed six stages of forgiveness development, Rest's DIT measure of justice development, and a religiosity scale. As predicted, there were strong age trends for forgiveness and justice. Both forgiveness and justice were related but distinct constructs. The more one practiced one's faith, the higher one was in forgiveness stage. Study 2, with 60 subjects, replicated the above findings. The studies give strong evidence that people's understanding of forgiveness develops with age. Implications for adolescent development are drawn.