Sex Differences in Spiritual Coping, Forgiveness, and Gratitude Before and After a Basic Alcohol Addiction Treatment Program

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the sex differences in the initial level of spiritual coping, forgiveness, and gratitude and changes occurring in these areas during a basic alcohol addiction treatment program. The study involved 112 persons, including 56 women and 56 men, who started and completed a basic alcohol addiction treatment program at day care units of 11 treatment centers. Two measurements were taken: one in the first week of the treatment, and one in the last week (5th–7th week after baseline). The Spiritual Coping Questionnaire, the Forgiveness Scale, and Gratitude Questionnaire were used. When starting the therapy, women had a higher level of negative spiritual coping (p = .024) and a lower level of forgiveness of others (p = .041) than men. During the therapy, positive changes in spiritual coping occurred in both sex groups, although in the case of women they involved improvements in more domains and they were stronger. The increase in the level of moral values (except for self-forgiveness) was noted solely in women. The study reveals the need to take sex differences into consideration when introducing spiritual elements into the therapy.

Gratitude, abstinence, and alcohol use disorders: Report of a preliminary finding

“…In this study increases in trait gratitude pre-post treatment were not observed and in Charzynska’s (2015)’s study, increases were observed among women only. Despite these results, there are theoretical and empirical grounds to suggest that gratitude should increase.…”

“…Pre-post treatment, women’s average trait gratitude increased significantly from 29.4 (SD = 6.7) to 31.6 (SD = 6.5). Men’s average trait gratitude before and after treatment was 30.2 (7.1) and 31.0 (6.4), respectively, but this difference was not statistically significant (Charzyńska, 2015). Gratitude exercises were not a component of treatment in this study yet we see increases in gratitude for women but not for men (E. Charzyńska, personal communication, December 15, 2016).…”

Longitudinal differences in spirituality and religiousness between men and women in treatment for alcohol use disorders.

“…The two studies that reported men with higher spirituality were conducted in New Zealand (Baker et al, 2007) and Poland (Charzyńska, 2015). Therefore, finer sensitivity to both gender and spirituality as culturally influenced and socially defined is warranted in designing and interpreting the results of addictions research.…”

“…Charzyńska (2015) found that over the course of a 6–8 week alcohol-use disorder treatment program, positive spiritual coping increased and negative spiritual coping decreased significantly for men and for women. However, Charzyńska reported that these increases were greater for women.…”

Longitudinal relationship between forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others among individuals with alcohol use disorders.

“…(1) Both forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others have been observed to increase significantly over time during the course of addiction recovery (Krentzman, 2016). (2) Forgiving one’s self has been rated lower than other dimensions of forgiveness (Charzyńska, 2015; Webb et al, 2006; Webb & Brewer, 2010). (3) Forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others share conceptual similarities, therefore, the ability to forgive another should be related to the ability to forgive one’s self at a future time point and vice versa.…”