Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Forgiveness and chronic pain: a systematic review

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -) Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Forgiveness is becoming increasingly recognized for its role in healthcare, having shown promising effects in patients suffering myriad diseases, from coronary artery disease to HIV to breast cancer.

Aims

To review the current literature examining forgiveness and its relationship specifically to chronic pain.

Method

In July 2019, a search was carried out of electronic databases (Academic Search Complete, AMED, Biomedical Reference Collection, General Science, Medline, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, Social Sciences Full Text and SPORTDiscus). Further results were obtained from reference lists. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied using PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews.

Results

The initial search yielded 354 results, and after duplicates were removed and inclusion and exclusion criteria applied, the final result was seven papers to be reviewed. Of the seven papers reviewed, five showed a relationship between lower levels of forgiveness and either increased experience or decreased tolerance for pain. One paper showed higher levels of empathy improving pain levels and suggests that forgiveness could enhance this experience of empathy. One study resulted in a higher level of pain among patients with higher forgiveness scores, although it was qualified that this particular patient population had a higher attachment anxiety, which may have impeded their ability to utilize forgiveness therapy.

Conclusions

There is an association between the capacity to forgive and the experience of chronic pain. Further research should examine forgiveness as an intervention in a population of chronic pain patients to explore this relationship further.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Escher D (2013) How does religion promote forgiveness? J Sci Study Relig 52(1):100–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wolsley H (2010) Children's literature as implicit religion: the concept of grace unpacked. Implicit Relig 13(2):161–171. https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.v13i2.161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Niemiec RM, Roger B (2015) The character driven person: how Frozen's Anna, not Elsa, is an exemplar. PsycCRITIQUES 60(26):10. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bradley I (2013) The sound of the healing power of forgiveness. The Times (United Kingdom), 01 January, pp. 80-80

  5. Smallen D (2019) Practicing forgiveness: a framework for a routine forgiveness practice. Spiritual Clin Pract:2326–4519. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000197

  6. Arnold LM (2010) The pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia. Psychiatr Clin North Am 33(2):375–408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2010.01.001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Waltman MA, Douglas RC, Coyle CT et al (2009) The effects of a forgiveness intervention on patients with coronary artery disease. Psychol Health 24(1):11–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870440801975127

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Romero C, Friedman LC, Kalidas M, Elledge R, Chang J, Liscum KR (2006) Self forgiveness, spirituality and psychological adjustment in women with breast Cancer. J Behav Med 29(1):29–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-005-9038-z

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Rasmussen KR, Stackhouse M, Boon SD, Comstock K, Ross R (2019) Meta analytic connections between forgiveness and health: the moderating effects of forgiveness related distinctions. Psychol Health 34(5):515–534. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2018.1545906

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Svalina S, Webb JR (2012) Forgiveness and health among people in outpatient physical therapy. Disabil Rehabil 34(5):383–392. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2011.607216

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Recine AC, Stehle Werner J, Recine L (2009) Health promotion through forgiveness intervention. J Holist Nurs 27(2):115–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898010108327214

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Lawler K, Younger J, Piferi R, Jobe RL, Edmondson KA, Jones WH (2005) The unique effects of forgiveness on health: an exploration of pathways. J Behav Med 28(2):157–167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-005-3665-2

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Fayaz A, Croft P, Langford RM, Donaldson LJ, Jones GT (2016) Prevalence of chronic pain in the UK: a systematic review and meta-analysis of population studies. BMJ Open 6(6):e010364. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010364

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Raftery M, Sarma K, Murphy AW, de la Harpe D, Normand C, McGuire B (2011) Chronic pain in the Republic of Ireland—community prevalence, psychosocial profile and predictors of pain-related disability: results from the prevalence, impact and cost of chronic pain (PRIME) study, part 1. Pain 152(5):1096–1103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2011.01.019

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Offenbaecher M, Dezutter J, Kohls N, Sigl C, Vallejo MA, Rivera J, Bauerdorf F, Schelling J, Vincent A, Hirsch JK, Sirois FM, Webb JR, Toussaint LL (2017) Struggling with adversities of life: the role of forgiveness in patients suffering from fibromyalgia. Clin J Pain 33(6):528–534. https://doi.org/10.1097/AJP.0000000000000432

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Lee YR, Enright RD (2014) A forgiveness intervention for women with fibromyalgia who were abused in childhood: a pilot study. Spiritual Clin Pract 1(3):203–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Carson J, Keefe F, Goli V, Fras AM, Lynch TR, Thorp SR, Buechler JL (2005) Forgiveness and chronic low back pain: a preliminary study examining the relationship of forgiveness to pain, anger and psychological distress. J Pain 6(2):84–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2004.10.012

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Saffarinia M, Mohammadi N, Afshar H (2016) The role of interpersonal forgiveness in resilience and severity of pain in chronic pain patients. J Fundam Mental Health 18(4):212–219

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ye Y, Ma D, Yuan H, Chen L, Wang G, Shi J, Yu Y, Guo Y, Jiang X (2019) Moderating effects of forgiveness on relationship between empathy and health related quality of life in hemodialysis patients: a structural equation modeling approach. J Pain Symptom Manag 57(2):224–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2018.10.511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Toussaint L, Worthington E, Williams D (2005) Forgiveness and health. Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9993-5

  21. Martin L, Vosvick M, Riggs S (2012) Attachment, forgiveness and physical health quality of life in HIV + patients. AIDS Care 24(11):1333–1340. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2011.648598

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Fernández-Capo M, Fernandez S, Gamiz M et al (2017) Measuring forgiveness, a systematic review. Eur Psychol 22(4):247–262. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Fincham FD, May R (2019) Divine, interpersonal and self-forgiveness: independently related to depressive symptoms? J Posit Psychol. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1639798

  24. Toussaint LJW, Hirsch J (2017) Self forgiveness and health: a stress and coping model. In: Woodyat L, Worthington ELJ, Wenzel M (eds) Handbook of the psychology of self forgiveness. Springer International Publishing, Cham, Switzerland, pp 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60573-9_7

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  25. Kokonyei G, Galambos A, Edes AE, Kocsel N, Szabo E, Pap D, Kozak LR, Bagdy G, Juhasz G (2019) Anticipation and violated expectation of pain are influenced by trait rumination: an fMRI study. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 19(1):56–72. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-018-0644-y

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Friedberg JP, Suchday S, Srinivas VS (2009) Relationship between forgiveness and psychological indices in cardiac patients. Int J Behav Med 16(3):205–211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-008-9016-2

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Sheena O’Beirne, Anna-Maria Katsimigos & Dominic Harmon

  2. Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Limerick University Hospital, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland

    Dominic Harmon

Authors
  1. Sheena O’Beirne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anna-Maria Katsimigos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dominic Harmon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dominic Harmon.

Ethics declarations

This is an original article submission. Ethical approval was obtained.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

O’Beirne, S., Katsimigos, AM. & Harmon, D. Forgiveness and chronic pain: a systematic review. Ir J Med Sci 189, 1359–1364 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-020-02200-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-020-02200-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation