Prospective Associations between ReligiousnessSpirituality and Depression and Mediating Effects of Forgiveness in a Nationally Representative Sample of United States Adults

Joint Authors

Williams, David R.
Marschall, Justin C.
Toussaint, Loren L.

Source

Depression Research and Treatment

Issue

Vol. 2012, Issue 2012 (31 Dec. 2012), pp.1-10, 10 p.

Publisher

Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Publication Date

2012-05-22

Country of Publication

Egypt

No. of Pages

10

Main Subjects

Diseases

Abstract EN

The present investigation examines the prospective associations of religiousness/spirituality with depression and the extent to which various dimensions of forgiveness act as mediating mechanisms of these associations.

Data are from a nationally representative sample of United States adults who were first interviewed in 1998 and reinterviewed six months later.

Measures of religiousness/spirituality, forgiveness, and various sociodemographics were collected.

Depression was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview administered by trained interviewers.

Results showed that religiousness/spirituality, forgiveness of oneself and others, and feeling forgiven by God were associated, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, with depressive status.

After controlling for initial depressive status, only forgiveness of oneself and others remained statistically significant predictors of depression.

Path analyses revealed that religiousness/spirituality conveyed protective effects, prospectively, on depression by way of an indirect path through forgiveness of others but not forgiveness of oneself.

Hence, forgiveness of others acts as a mechanism of the salutary effect of religiousness/spirituality, but forgiveness of oneself is an independent predictor.

Conclusions regarding the continued development of this type of research and for the treatment of clients with depression are offered.

American Psychological Association (APA)

Toussaint, Loren L.& Marschall, Justin C.& Williams, David R.. 2012. Prospective Associations between ReligiousnessSpirituality and Depression and Mediating Effects of Forgiveness in a Nationally Representative Sample of United States Adults. Depression Research and Treatment،Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-458862

Modern Language Association (MLA)

Toussaint, Loren L.…[et al.]. Prospective Associations between ReligiousnessSpirituality and Depression and Mediating Effects of Forgiveness in a Nationally Representative Sample of United States Adults. Depression Research and Treatment No. 2012 (2012), pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-458862

American Medical Association (AMA)

Toussaint, Loren L.& Marschall, Justin C.& Williams, David R.. Prospective Associations between ReligiousnessSpirituality and Depression and Mediating Effects of Forgiveness in a Nationally Representative Sample of United States Adults. Depression Research and Treatment. 2012. Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-458862

Data Type

Journal Articles

Language

English

Notes

Includes bibliographical references

Record ID

BIM-458862