Toussaint, Loren L.Marschall, Justin C.Williams, David2013-10-242012Toussaint, Loren L., Justin C. Marschall, and David R. Williams. 2012. Prospective associations between religiousness/spirituality and depression and mediating effects of forgiveness in a nationally representative sample of united states adults. Depression Research and Treatment 2012.2090-1321http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11211541The present investigation examines the prospective associations of religiousness/spirituality with depression and the extent to which various dimensions of forgiveness act as mediating mechanisms of these associations. Data are from a nationally representative sample of United States adults who were first interviewed in 1998 and reinterviewed six months later. Measures of religiousness/spirituality, forgiveness, and various sociodemographics were collected. Depression was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview administered by trained interviewers. Results showed that religiousness/spirituality, forgiveness of oneself and others, and feeling forgiven by God were associated, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, with depressive status. After controlling for initial depressive status, only forgiveness of oneself and others remained statistically significant predictors of depression. Path analyses revealed that religiousness/spirituality conveyed protective effects, prospectively, on depression by way of an indirect path through forgiveness of others but not forgiveness of oneself. Hence, forgiveness of others acts as a mechanism of the salutary effect of religiousness/spirituality, but forgiveness of oneself is an independent predictor. Conclusions regarding the continued development of this type of research and for the treatment of clients with depression are offered.en-USJournal Article2013-10-2410.1155/2012/267820