Psychiatry Investig.  2019 Feb;16(2):121-129. 10.30773/pi.2018.11.12.1.

Self-Forgiveness Moderates the Effects of Depression on Suicidality

Affiliations
  • 1Clinical Emotion and Cognition Research Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Inje University, Goyang, Republic of Korea. lshpss@paik.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA.
  • 3Department of Psychology, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  • 4Department of Psychiatry, Inje University College of Medicine, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea.

Abstract


OBJECTIVE
Not all depressive individuals are suicidal. An increasing body of studies has examined forgiveness, especially self-forgiveness, as a protective factor of suicide based on that suicide is often accompanied by negative self-perceptions. However, less has been studied on how different subtypes of forgiveness (i.e., forgiveness-of-self, forgiveness-of-others and forgiveness-of-situations) could alleviate the effects of depression on suicide. Hence, this study examined forgiveness as a moderator of depression and suicidality.
METHODS
305 participants, consisted of 87 males and 218 females, were included in the study. The mean age was 41.05 (SD: 14.48; range: 19-80). Depression, anxiety, and forgiveness were measured through self-report questionnaires, and suicidal risk was measured through a structuralized interview. Moderations were examined through hierarchical regression analyses.
RESULTS
Depression positively correlated with suicidality. Results of the hierarchical regression analysis indicated forgiveness as a moderator of depression on suicidality. Further analysis indicated only forgiveness-of-self as a significant moderator; the effects of forgiveness-of-others and forgiveness-of-situation were not significant.
CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that forgiveness-of-self is essential in reducing of the effects of depression on suicidality. It is suggested that self-acceptance and the promotion of self-forgiveness should be considered as an important factor when developing suicide prevention strategies.

Keyword

Depression; Suicidality; Forgiveness-of-self; Forgiveness-of-others; Forgiveness-of-situation

MeSH Terms

Anxiety
Depression*
Female
Forgiveness
Humans
Male
Protective Factors
Self Concept
Suicide
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