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Researchers commonly conceptualize forgiveness as a rich complex of psychological changes involving attitudes, emotions, and behaviors. Psychometric work with the measures developed to capture this conceptual richness, however, often points to a simpler picture of the psychological dimensions in which forgiveness takes place. In an effort to better unite forgiveness theory and measurement, we evaluate several psychometric models for common measures of forgiveness. In doing so, we study people from the United States and Japan to understand forgiveness in both non-close and close relationships. In addition, we assess the predictive utility of these models for several behavioral outcomes that traditionally have been linked to forgiveness motives. Finally, we employ the methods of item response theory, which place person abilities and item responses on the same metric and thus help us draw psychological inferences from the ordering of item difficulties. Our results highlight models based on correlated factors models and bifactor (S-1) models. The bifactor (S-1) model evinced particular utility: Its general factor consistently predicts variation in relevant criterion measures, including four different experimental economic games (when played with a transgressor), and also suffuses a second self-report measure of forgiveness. Moreover, the general factor of the bifactor (S-1) model identifies a single psychological dimension that runs from hostility to friendliness while also pointing to other sources of variance that may be conceived of as method factors. Taken together, these results suggest that forgiveness can be usefully conceptualized as prosocial change along a single attitudinal continuum that ranges from hostility to friendliness.

Objective Involving caregivers in trauma-focused treatments for youth has been shown to result in better outcomes, but it is not clear which in-session caregiver behaviors enhance or inhibit this effect. The current study examined the associations between caregiver behaviors during Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and youth cognitive processes and symptoms. Method Participants were a racially diverse sample of Medicaid-eligible youth (ages 7–17) and their non-offending caregivers (N= 71 pairs) who received TF-CBT through an effectiveness study in a community setting. Caregiver and youth processes were coded from audio-recorded sessions, and outcomes were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for DSM-IV (UPID) at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-intake. Results Piecewise linear growth curve modeling revealed that during the trauma narrative phase of TF-CBT, caregivers’ cognitive-emotional processing of their own and their child's trauma-related reactions predicted decreases in youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms over treatment. Caregiver support predicted lower internalizing symptoms over follow-up. In contrast, caregiver avoidance and blame of the child predicted worsening of youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms over follow-up. Caregiver avoidance early in treatment also predicted worsening of externalizing symptoms over follow-up. During the narrative phase, caregiver blame and avoidance were correlated with more child overgeneralization of trauma beliefs, and blame was also associated with less child accommodation of balanced beliefs. Conclusions The association between in-session caregiver behaviors and youth symptomatology during and after TF-CBT highlights the importance of assessing and targeting these behaviors to improve clinical outcomes.

Daily communications between the ICU trauma patients’ families and the trauma team are often limited due to the unpredictable nature of subsequent patient admissions and operative procedures. In order to improve the lines of family-physician communication and educate residents regarding family communication, our level I trauma center instituted daily “Family Rounds” (FR). FR occur at the same time every day, in the patient's ICU room. The purpose of this study was to determine whether families valued the scheduled daily FR, to establish whether FR improved the family-physician relationship, and to delineate strengths and weaknesses of the present structure of our FR. We mailed surveys to family members of trauma patients hospitalized in the trauma ICU for ≥3 days. A total of 55 (22%) families responded. Combining “excellent” and “good” responses, 86.5 per cent of families looked forward to having a specific time of day to meet with the trauma team, and 90 per cent liked having rounds in the ICU room with the patient. However, 36 per cent did not like having only scheduled time for FR. The majority, 75 per cent, believed that all concerns were addressed during FR, and 84.9 per cent rated their overall experience as either excellent or good. Scheduled FR appear to improve communication between trauma surgeons and patients’ families, enhance the family-physician relationship, and strengthen our surgical residency teaching program.

Three autobiographical studies tested the valuable relationships hypothesis of forgiveness. Although previous studies revealed that relationship value predicts interpersonal forgiveness, the measure of relationship value may be conflated with affective assessments of the relationship with the transgressor, which might have caused a criterion contamination problem. Therefore, we assessed the goal-related instrumentality of the transgressor (i.e., how useful the transgressor is for helping the victim to achieve his/her goals in fitness-relevant domains). Three studies, one involving a Japanese student sample (Study 1), a second involving Japanese community sample (Study 2), and a third involving U.S. community sample (Study 3), convergently showed that perceived goal instrumentality, as well as a latent relationship value variable estimated from multiple measures of relationship value, are associated with forgiveness. Moreover, this association could be explained in part by the intermediate association of perceived goal instrumentality with empathy both in Japan and the U.S.