Everett L. Worthington

Bio: Everett L. Worthington is an academic researcher from Virginia Commonwealth University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Forgiveness & Humility. The author has an hindex of 64, co-authored 340 publications receiving 19789 citations. Previous affiliations of Everett L. Worthington include National Institutes of Health & University of Missouri.

The dedication to the sacred (ds) scale: adapting a marriage measure to study relational spirituality

Abstract: We describe the development of the Dedication to the Sacred Scale (DS). The measure was created to test a model of relational spirituality and forgiveness. Items from a measure of commitment in couples (Stanley & Markman, 1992) were adapted to assess a victim's dedication to a relationship with the Sacred. In Study 1 (N = 171), confirmatory factor analysis revealed good fit to a single-factor model. We removed poor items and replicated the factor structure on an independent sample in Study 2 (N = 201). In Study 3 (N = 134), the five-item DS showed evidence of construct validity. It was positively related to religious commitment and uncorrelated with social desirability. The DS predicted forgiveness after the variance from religious commitment, desecration, and offender's spiritual and human similarity were removed. Those who viewed the Sacred as a personal being had higher scores than those who viewed the Sacred as impersonal. The current article is based on a new strategy of exploring the relationship between spirituality and forgiveness. Previous research has focused on the question, are people who are more religious more forgiving than people who are less religious (McCullough & Worthington, 1999). Instead, we ask the question, what ways of relating to the Sacred promote or inhibit forgiveness? To help answer this question, we use a model of relational spirituality and forgiveness that describes several ways a victim may perceive that a transgression has spiritual significance (Davis, Hook, & Worthington, 2008; Worthington, 2009). For one of the constructs in our model, we do not have a good measure. Thus, the current article reports on the development of the Dedication Sacred Scale (DS). For both psychological and theological reasons, we adapted a measure of marriage commitment to assess someone's relationship with the Sacred. A New Strategy to Study Spirituality and Forgiveness Most research on spirituality and forgiveness has focused on whether people who are more religious are more forgiving than people who are less religious (Worthington, in press). That is, most studies have treated spirituality as a personality-like trait that is relatively stable across situations and relationships. Such an approach has several drawbacks. First, by treating religiosity as a personality-like trait, researchers are not able to use causal designs. They cannot use experimental or longitudinal designs that investigate changes in spirituality if constructs are not expected to change much. Although religious beliefs, values, and practices are relatively stable, spiritual experiences fluctuate over time. Feelings of closeness, connection, intimacy, and dedication toward the Sacred (i.e., God in our context, though people may sacralize other objects; Pargament & Mahoney, 2005) may vary. Second, if researchers want to study actual offenses, using a trait-like measure of spirituality strains a measurement principle. Measures tend to correlate most strongly when they are measured at the same level-of-specificity (Tsang, McCullough, & Hoyt, 2005). Measuring trait religiosity or trait spirituality to predict forgiveness of specific offenses measures the two constructs at different levels-of-specificity. For this reason alone, one may not find a relationship between religiosity (or trait spirituality) and forgiveness. Third, after over 15 years of using the strategy, research has not authoritatively informed how clinicians help religious clients forgive. Researchers know that religion tends to promote forgiveness; however, little is known about when and why it promotes forgiveness, how people draw on religion to forgive, or how therapists can focus clients' attention to aspects of their religion or spiritual life that will help them achieve forgiveness when they want to forgive someone. For example, are those who are able to remain involved with the same church able to forgive better than those who change churches regularly? …

Suffering, Mental Health, and Psychological Well-being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study of U.S. Adults with Chronic Health Conditions

Abstract: Suffering has been a topic of considerable discussion in the fields of medicine and palliative care, yet few studies have reported causal evidence linking the experience of suffering to health and well-being. In this three-wave prospective cohort study, we explore the potential psychological implications of suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining relations among suffering, mental health, and psychological well-being in a sample of U.S. adults living with chronic health conditions. We analyzed data from n = 184 participants who completed assessments one month before the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (February 2020) and then two months (April 2020) and four months later (May/June 2020). Analyses controlled for a range of factors, including sociodemographic characteristics, physical health, religious/spiritual factors, psychological characteristics, and prior values of the predictor and each of the outcomes assessed one month before the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of the primary analysis indicated that greater overall suffering assessed one month into the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with lower psychological well-being (β = -.17, 95% CI: -.29, -.05) and higher levels of anxiety (β = .27, 95% CI: .13, .41) and depression (β = .16, 95% CI: .03, .29) two months later. In a secondary analysis that explored anxiety, depression, and psychological well-being as candidate antecedents of suffering, depression assessed one month into the COVID-19 pandemic was most strongly associated with worse overall suffering two months later. We highlight the implications of the findings for high-risk populations who are suffering amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Potential benefits of both integrating assessments of suffering into screening procedures and addressing experiences of suffering in mental health service settings are discussed.

Efficacy of REACH Forgiveness across cultures.

Abstract: Objective This study investigates the efficacy of the 6-hour REACH Forgiveness intervention among culturally diverse undergraduates Method Female undergraduates (N = 102) and foreign extraction (462%) and domestic (438%) students in the United States were randomly assigned to immediate treatment or waitlist conditions Treatment efficacy and the effect of culture on treatment response were assessed using measures of emotional and decisional forgiveness across 3 time periods Results Students in the treatment condition reported greater improvement in emotional forgiveness, but not decisional forgiveness, relative to those in the waitlist condition Gains were maintained at a 1-week follow-up Although culture did not moderate the effect of treatment, a main effect of culture on emotional forgiveness and marginally significant interaction effect of culture on decisional forgiveness were found Conclusion The REACH Forgiveness intervention was efficacious for college students from different cultural backgrounds when conducted in the United States However, some evidence may warrant development of culturally adapted forgiveness interventions

Measuring gratitude at work

Abstract: The role of gratitude in the workplace is understudied, despite its potential for promoting well-being and achievement in organizational contexts. We developed and evaluated a measure of workplace-...

Supervision and the integration of faith into clinical practice: Research considerations.

Abstract: We review the research on the involvement of faith in supervision within the leading model of supervision-a developmental model. The developmental model of supervision aims for supervisors to match supervision interventions to the level of counselor development. We find that substantial research on the integration of faith and practice has transpired, and the major findings are reviewed. Nevertheless, a vigorous research agenda is still possible. We suggest that such research should (a) identify specific spiritual or religious (S/R) competencies on which to focus at each level of counselor development, (b) develop better assessment instruments for measuring development of competence and comfort with S/R issues, (c) describe how different theological traditions might require different competencies, (d) be explicit about the theoretical model of integration that supervisors follow, (e) identify evidence-based counseling interventions to teach during supervision, (f) determine the extent and style of discussion of S/R issues during supervision, and (g) detect how personal S/R values of supervisors, counselors, and clients interact to produce different client outcomes. As Aten and Hernandez (2004) suggest, religion and spirituality have become issues worth considering in the practice of supervision. The literature is still scant and the models and applications are still preliminary. Research in this area is almost non-existent. The purpose of this article is to provide some reflections about how spirituality and religion (S/R) are and can be integrated into supervision, to review the extant research, and to suggest a research agenda for this aspect of supervision. Why Is It Important to Consider the Integration of S/R Issues in Supervision? We suggest that it is particularly important to consider how S/R issues are dealt with during supervision. Worthington et al. (in press) reviewed the research on training in S/R. Building on models suggested by Yarhouse and Fisher (2002), and considering the empirical research that had accumulated, Worthington et al. suggested that currently five training models existed: (1) S/R issues dealt with as needed, (2) minimalist incorporation-integration, (3) intentional incorporation-integration, (4) minor-certificate programs, and (5) religiously tailored programs. Most training models-except for the religiously tailored programs and a few intentionally incorporation-integration programs offered little in the way of explicit training in S/R issues. Training occurred, if at all, haphazardly, and only when it came up naturally. Worthington et al. (in press) identified eight potential sources by which therapists-in-training could learn to deal with S/R issues: coursework, informal peer discussions, advisors, research training, practicum training (e.g., from staffing, from clients, and from supervisors), personal therapy, and post-degree training. Despite the number of these sources of learning, in reality, most S/R training occurred when clients brought up S/R issues in their therapy, and counselors then carried such issues to supervision. Worthington et al. (in press) argued that the likelihood was that this seriously underestimated the number of clients that had S/R issues because clients often had mistaken assumptions that S/R issues were not appropriate for discussion in state-supported agencies or some secular private practices. Furthermore, unless there was a specific policy in place in a training program that encouraged dealing with S/R issues, many counselors simply would not bring such S/R issues to supervision-sometimes even if the issues needed attention with their clients-because the students might believe that such issues were not welcome. Such beliefs are not unfounded. Schulte, Skinner, and Claiborn (2002) surveyed two-thirds of the directors of counseling training at an annual meeting of the Council on Counseling Psychology Training Programs. Only 78 percent of the directors of training said that they believed that practicum supervisors in the program were "open to discussing the client's S/R if it seems relevant to the case" (p. …

Using Multivariate Statistics

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In a Different Voice. Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, MA (Harvard University Press) 1982.

Abstract: Introduction 1. Woman's Place in Man's Life Cycle 2. Images of Relationship 3. Concepts of Self and Morality 4. Crisis and Transition 5. Women's Rights and Women's Judgment 6. Visions of Maturity References Index of Study Participants General Index

Medscape

Abstract: Secret History: Return of the Black Death Channel 4, 7-8pm In 1348 the Black Death swept through London, killing people within days of the appearance of their first symptoms. Exactly how many died, and why, has long been a mystery. This Secret History documentary follows experts as they pick through the evidence and reveal why the plague killed on such a scale. And they ask, what might be coming next?

Acute stressors and cortisol responses: a theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research.

Abstract: This meta-analysis reviews 208 laboratory studies of acute psychological stressors and tests a theoretical model delineating conditions capable of eliciting cortisol responses. Psychological stressors increased cortisol levels; however, effects varied widely across tasks. Consistent with the theoretical model, motivated performance tasks elicited cortisol responses if they were uncontrollable or characterized by social-evaluative threat (task performance could be negatively judged by others), when methodological factors and other stressor characteristics were controlled for. Tasks containing both uncontrollable and social-evaluative elements were associated with the largest cortisol and adrenocorticotropin hormone changes and the longest times to recovery. These findings are consistent with the animal literature on the physiological effects of uncontrollable social threat and contradict the belief that cortisol is responsive to all types of stressors.