Posttraumatic growth and interpersonal forgiveness in persons with physical disabilities

To investigate whether there is a relationship between posttraumatic growth (PTG) and forgiveness in people with physical disabilities, and whether contextual factors moderate the association.

Two hundred and sixty seven persons with physical disabilities completed Polish versions of three inventories: Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Decision to Forgive Scale (DTFS), and Emotional Forgiveness Scale (EFS). The participants also assessed contextual factors of offenses, such as transgression severity, apology being offered, and quality of the relationship with the offender. The associations between the variables were examined using correlation and moderation analyses. In the moderation model, PTG was posited as a predictor, offence-specific factors as subsequent moderators, and forgiveness (decisional and emotional) as outcome variables.

PTG was positively associated with decisional and emotional forgiveness, and not related to contextual factors. Transgression severity, apology, and relationship quality were correlated with forgiveness. The quality of the victim-offender relationship was the only contextual variable to moderate the association between PTG and emotional forgiveness.

PTG and forgiveness are positively related and their association is moderated by the context of the transgression to a minor extent. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).