Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40038826›Full record

ArticleBMC psychology2025

Moral transgressions, psychological well-being, and family conflict in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of self-forgiveness.

Francesca Giorgia Paleari, Lucrezia Cavagnis, Irem Ertan, Frank D Fincham

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Francesca Giorgia PaleariDepartment of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy. francesca-giorgia.paleari@unibg.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6752-0911
Lucrezia CavagnisDepartment of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8991-4623
Irem ErtanDepartment of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5650-0985
Frank D FinchamDepartment of Human Development and Family Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5081-2283

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe COVID-19 pandemic led many individuals to experience moral transgressions, exacerbating feelings of guilt and remorse. This study explored the role of the self-forgiveness of such transgressions in explaining their associations with psychological well-being and family conflict. We hypothesized that (a) higher levels of self-forgiveness would be associated with greater psychological well-being and reduced family conflict, (b) the perceived relevance of moral transgressions would be positively associated with self-forgiveness and indirectly associated with psychological well-being and family conflict through the mediation of self-forgiveness, and (c) the relationships between the variables of interest could vary across age.

methodAdults (N = 277; M age = 30.04) completed anonymous online questionnaires assessing the relevance of transgressions committed, forgiveness and unforgiveness of self, psychological well-being, and family conflict during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Italy.

resultsStructural equation modeling revealed that transgression relevance was positively associated with both forgiveness and unforgiveness of self, and indirectly related to psychological well-being and family conflict via self-forgiveness. Greater forgiveness of self was related to greater eudaimonic well-being, whereas greater unforgiveness of self was linked to increased family conflict and reduced eudaimonic well-being. The findings also indicated that age moderated the relationship between forgiveness of self and hedonic well-being, with the association weakening as age increased.

conclusionsThe results highlight the importance of promoting self-forgiveness to enhance psychological resilience and familial stability, particularly during challenging times.

Indexed as

COVID-19Family ConflictForgivenessMoralsSelf ConceptAdultFemaleHumansItalyMaleMental HealthMiddle AgedPandemicsPsychological Well-BeingSARS-CoV-2Surveys and QuestionnairesCOVID-19 pandemicEudaimonic well-beingFamily conflictHedonic well-beingMoral transgressionsSelf-forgiveness

Identifiers

PMID40038826
PMCPMC11881389

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.