Forgiveness and romantic relationships in college: can it heal the wounded heart?

This study evaluated the effects of two versions of a six-week group forgiveness intervention for college women who had been wronged in a romantic relationship. Participants (N = 58) were randomly assigned to a secular, religiously integrated, or no-intervention comparison condition. Participants completed a variety of forgiveness and mental health measures at one-week pretest, one-week posttest, and six-week follow-up. Participants in both intervention conditions improved significantly more than did those in the comparison condition on two measures of forgiveness and a measure of existential well-being. Program effects were maintained at six-week follow-up. Contrary to hypotheses, there were no differential treatment effects when comparing participants in the secular and the religiously integrated conditions. Participants generally rated the programs favorably. Forgiveness strategies utilized by participants also were examined.