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Negative affect and anger rumination as mediators between forgiveness and sleep quality

Journal of Behavioral Medicine volume 31, pages 478–488 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Research indicates that forgiveness of interpersonal transgressions relates to better sleep quality, whereas maintaining feelings of anger and hostility relates to poorer sleep quality. However, the mechanisms explaining these relationships have yet to be determined. We examined whether negative affect and anger rumination mediate the relationship between forgiveness of others and sleep quality using a sample of 277 undergraduates from a medium-sized Midwestern Catholic university. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing forgiveness of others (situational and dispositional), sleep quality (nocturnal sleep and daytime fatigue), negative affect (depression and anxiety), and anger rumination. Using structural equation modeling, we found that negative affect and anger rumination mediated the relationship between forgiveness and sleep quality through two indirect pathways. In one pathway, negative affect mediated between forgiveness and sleep quality. In the second pathway, both negative affect and anger rumination functioned as mediators. Implications for clinicians and researchers are discussed.

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Adam Reichle for his assistance preparing this manuscript.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA

    Rebecca Stoia-Caraballo, Mark S. Rye, Keri J. Brown Kirschman & Catherine Lutz-Zois

  2. Division of Educational Studies, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Wei Pan

  3. Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Amy M. Lyons

Authors
  1. Rebecca Stoia-Caraballo
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  2. Mark S. Rye
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  3. Wei Pan
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  4. Keri J. Brown Kirschman
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  5. Catherine Lutz-Zois
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  6. Amy M. Lyons
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Correspondence to Mark S. Rye.

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Stoia-Caraballo, R., Rye, M.S., Pan, W. et al. Negative affect and anger rumination as mediators between forgiveness and sleep quality. J Behav Med 31, 478–488 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-008-9172-5

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Keywords

  • Forgiveness
  • Sleep quality
  • Negative affect
  • Rumination
  • Mediation