Dispositional Forgiveness and PTSD Among Iranian Veterans of the 1980–1988 War

Abstract

The relationship between dispositional forgiveness, empathy, and hope, on the one hand, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), on the other hand, was examined among Iranian veterans of the Iran-Iraq 1980-1988 conflict. Participants were administered the Forgivingness Questionnaire (measuring lasting resentment, sensitivity to the circumstances of the offense, and unconditional forgiveness), the Empathy Quotient Scale (assessing cognitive empathy, social skills, and emotional reactivity), the Hope Scale (assessing personal feelings of agency and ability to find pathways), and the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. It was found that the higher the PTSD score, the higher the lasting resentment score and the lower all of the other scores, particularly agency and sensitivity to circumstances. The association between forgivingness and PTSD was still significant once empathy and hope levels were controlled for.The relationship between direct, personal experience of combat during war and the development of psychiatric disorders or psychological maladjustment has been systematically investigated for many years. Empirical data

Forgiveness in PTSD after man-made traumatic events: A systematic review.

“…All measured forgiveness at dispositional level and had similar findings: One study involving Iranian veterans of the Iran-Iraq 1980-1988 conflict found a negative association between unconditional forgiveness and PTSD symptom severity (Nateghian et al, 2015).…”

“…The studies involving war veterans show a clearer association between forgiveness and PTSD but other factors seem to be at play in the relationship -empathy, hope, anger, negative affect and religious coping to name a few (Karaırmak & Güloğlu, 2014;Nateghian et al, 2015;Witvliet et al, 2004).…”

“…Four studies had significantly more female than male participants (Friedberg, Adonis, Von Bergen, & Suchday, 2005;Hamama-Raz et al, 2008;Orcutt, Pickett, & Pope, 2005. The studies involving war veterans had only male participants (Karaırmak & Güloğlu, 2014;Nateghian, Dastgiri, & Mullet, 2015;Witvliet, Phipps, Feldman, & Beckham, 2004).…”

“…The instruments more commonly administered to assess PTSD were the Clinicianadministered PTSD Scale (Karaırmak & Güloğlu, 2014;Kira et al, 2009;Witvliet et al, 2004), the Impact of Event Scale (Bae et al, 2014;Friedberg et al, 2005), the Mississippi PTSD Scale (Nateghian et al, 2015;Witvliet et al, 2004) and the Distressing Events…”

Moderating Effects of Forgiveness on Relationship Between Empathy and Health-Related Quality of Life in Hemodialysis Patients: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

“…24e27 Low forgiveness scores are connected with post-traumatic stress disorder and severe symptoms of anxiety and depression. 28 Numerous studies have tested the relationships among empathy, forgiveness, and QOL; however, a mechanism of forgiveness has not been fully explored. The overall hypothesized model developed in this study was based on the forgiveness as a moderator of biopsychosocial responses and adjustment and empirical evidence obtained from the aforementioned studies (Fig.…”