Parental conflict intensity and divorce specific forgiveness in young adulthood

Abstract

Parental conflict may cause young adults to feel offended. Since forgiveness is essential to repair interpersonal relationships and effectively cope with the offense it is crucial to investigate the association between parental conflict and divorce specific forgiveness. Thus, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between parental conflict intensity and divorce specific forgiveness. Furthermore, the mediating effects of loyalty conflict and painful feelings about the divorce were investigated. The sample consisted of 197 young adults who took part in the Villa Pinedo Project (Mage = 21.31 years, SD = 1.88, age range: 18 - 26). The association between parental conflict intensity and divorce specific forgiveness was assessed using partial correlation. A regression analysis, using the bootstrapping method, was performed to examine indirect effects. Results suggested that more parental conflict intensity is associated with less divorce specific forgiveness. Furthermore, painful feelings about the divorce, but not loyalty conflict, functioned as a mediator in the relationship between parental conflict intensity and divorce specific forgiveness. Taken together, the results provide evidence for the suggestion that parental conflict intensity is directly associated with divorce specific forgiveness and indirectly related to divorce specific forgiveness through painful feelings about the divorce.