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Forgiveness was indicated by how often participants practiced the following statements because of their spiritual or religious beliefs: "I have forgiven myself for things that I have done wrong," "I have forgiven those who hurt me," and "I know that God forgives me." Past studies have suggested that forgiveness -- a tenet of many of the world's religions -- improves health outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury, cancer, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other conditions, and that it is important to recovery among adult substance abusers.
The findings are published in a special section on spirituality and alcoholism in the April 2007 issue of the Southern Medical Journal. Knight and Gordon Hugenberger, PhD, adjunct professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass. and senior minister at Park Street Church in Boston, authored an accompanying editorial titled "On Forgiveness," which appears in the same issue of the journal.
This study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, The Fetzer Institute, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the Novotny/Swahnberg Fund at the Boston Foundation. Knight and colleagues plan to apply for additional funding to further research the relationships between religiousness/spirituality and substance abuse among adolescents.
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