The Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on Depression, Anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress for Women After Spousal Emotional Abuse

Gayle L. Reed and Robert D. Enright University of Wisconsin—Madison

Emotionally abused women experience negative psychological outcomes long after the abusive spousal relationship has ended. This study compares forgiveness therapy (FT) with an alternative treatment (AT; anger validation, assertiveness, interpersonal skill building) for emotionally abused women who had been permanently separated for 2 or more years (M ? 5.00 years, SD ? 2.61; n ? 10 per group). Participants, who were matched, yoked, and randomized to treatment group, met individually with the intervener. Mean intervention time was 7.95 months (SD ? 2.61). The relative efficacy of FT and AT was assessed at p ? .05. Participants in FT experienced significantly greater improvement than AT participants in depression, trait anxiety, posttraumatic stress symptoms, self-esteem, forgiveness, environmental mas- tery, and finding meaning in suffering, with gains maintained at follow-up (M ? 8.35 months, SD ? 1.53). FT has implications for the long-term recovery of postrelationship emotionally abused women.

Keywords: spousal emotional abuse, forgiveness therapy, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress

Spousal emotional abuse is a significant problem, with approx- imately 35% of women reporting such abuse from a spouse or romantic partner (O’Leary, 1999); in addition, women often dem- onstrate negative psychological outcomes long after this abuse. Despite the frequent calls for efficacious therapies for these women, no empirically validated treatments have been clearly established (Enns, Campbell, & Courtois, 1997; Mancoske, Stan- difer, & Cauley, 1994; Miller, Veltkamp, & Kraus, 1997; Paul, 2004), and the literature still demonstrates a focus on the definition of and screening for spousal emotional abuse rather than empirical testing of therapeutic strategies (Follingstad, 2000; Gondolf, Heck- ert, & Kimmel, 2002; Tjaden, 2004).

Spousal psychological abuse represents a painful betrayal of trust, leading to serious negative psychological outcomes for the abused partner (Dutton & Painter, 1993; Sackett & Saunders, 1999). According to Sackett and Saunders (1999), spousal psycho- logical abuse functions with the purpose of causing emotional pain to the spouse and establishing an unequal distribution of power in the relationship. Sackett and Saunders (1999) have demonstrated negative outcomes of emotional abuse that are distinct from the impact of physical battery.

Follingstad, Rutledge, Berg, Hause, and Polek (1990) and Sack- ett and Saunders (1999) have identified at least seven categories of spousal psychological abuse: criticizing, ridiculing, jealous con- trol, purposeful ignoring, threats of abandonment, threats of harm, and damage to personal property, with ridicule associated most

strongly with negative outcomes of psychological abuse. More- over, Follingstad et al. (1990) found that 72% of participants reported that emotional abuse had a more negative impact than physical abuse. The negative psychological outcomes of spousal psychological abuse include depression (O’Leary, 1999; Pimlott- Kubiak & Cortina, 2003; Sackett & Saunders, 1999), anxiety (Dutton & Painter, 1993), posttraumatic stress disorder (Astin, Lawrence, & Foy, 1993; Enns et al., 1997; Pimlott-Kubiak & Cortina, 2003; Woods, 2000), low self-esteem (Aguilar & Night- ingale, 1994), learned helplessness (Follingstad et al., 1990; Lau- nius & Lindquist, 1988), and an ongoing, debilitating resentment of the abuser (Seagull & Seagull, 1991). A number of researchers (Astin et al., 1993; Dutton & Painter, 1993; Sackett & Saunders, 1999; Woods, 2000) have demonstrated that these negative out- comes last well beyond the end of the abusive relationship.Please read attached files.
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