ArticleAnnals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine2016
Forgiveness, Stress, and Health: a 5-Week Dynamic Parallel Process Study.
Article in Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Alleviating Social Pain: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Forgiveness and Acetaminophen.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2019Trial
- Forgiveness of Self and Situations and Rumination as Mental Health Correlates in Dental School Students.Journal of dental education · 2026Article
- An Exploratory Study of the Associations Between Epstein-Barr Virus Antibodies and Forgiveness Among Recipients of Relational Transgressions in the USA.Journal of religion and health · 2025Article
- Forgiveness in Poland: Rye Forgiveness Scale Adaptation and Its Longitudinal Impact on Mental Health in HIV-Positive Individuals.Journal of clinical psychology · 2025Article
- A path to better mental health among emerging adults: forgiveness as a solution to interpersonal conflicts.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Episodic forgiveness in young American adults and its pathways to distress by health, outlook, spirituality, aggression, and social support.Health psychology report · 2025Article
- Association between maternal religious service attendance and pregnancy loss in the United States: a secondary analysis of the Future Families & Child Wellbeing Study.Research square · 2024Article
- The Relationship Between Forgiveness and Health Outcomes Among People Living with HIV: A Cross-Sectional Study in France.AIDS and behavior · 2023Article
- The Mediating Role of Forgiveness and Self-Efficacy in the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Treatment Motivation Among Malaysian Male Drug Addicts.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Autobiographical Memory, Gratitude, Forgiveness and Sense of Humor: An Intervention in Older Adults.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- The Development and Validation of a Short Form of the Forbearance Scale.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- German Soldiers' Needs to Clarify Open Aspects in Their Life, to Talk About Fears and Worries, and to Forgive and to Be Forgiven as a Matter of Life Reflection.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2018Article
- Life Stress and Health: A Review of Conceptual Issues and Recent Findings.Teaching of psychology (Columbia, Mo.) · 2016Article
- Predicting Nurses' Psychological Safety Based on the Forgiveness Skill.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery researchArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPsychological stress is a well-known risk factor for poor health, and recent research has suggested that the emotion-focused coping process of forgiveness may help mitigate these effects. To date, however, no studies have examined how levels of forgiveness, stress, and health fluctuate and interrelate over time. PURPOSE: We addressed this issue by examining how forgiveness, stress, and mental and physical health symptoms change and relate to one another over 5 weeks. We hypothesized that increases in state levels of forgiveness would be associated with decreases in perceptions of stress, which would in turn be related to decreases in mental and physical health symptoms. A reverse effects model was also tested.
methodsWe recruited a large, community-based sample of 332 young, middle-aged, and older adults (16-79 years old; M
resultsLevels of forgiveness, stress, and mental and physical health symptoms each showed significant change and individual variability in change over time. As hypothesized, increases in forgiveness were associated with decreases in stress, which were in turn related to decreases in mental (but not physical) health symptoms (i.e., forgiveness → stress → health). The reverse effects model (i.e., health → stress → forgiveness) provided a relatively poorer fit.
conclusionsThis study is the first to provide prospective, longitudinal evidence showing that greater forgiveness is associated with less stress and, in turn, better mental health. Strategies for cultivating forgiveness may thus have beneficial effects on stress and health.
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