Communication, forgiveness and morbidity in young adults involved in a romantic relationship

This study examined the direct and indirect effects of communication patterns and forgiveness on
physical and psychological morbidity, among young adults involved in a romantic relationship.
Participants were 298 students, currently involved in a heterosexual romantic relationship, from a large
university in the United States, who completed the Tendency to Forgive Scale, the Communication
Patterns Questionnaire, and the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist. Physical morbidity was directly
predicted by mutuality communication. Destructive communication had an indirect effect on physical
and psychological morbidity, via forgiveness. However, the indirect connection between destructive
communication and psychological morbidity was only significant for female partners. Teaching
constructive communication skills may be a key factor for interventions addressed to young adults
in romantic relationships, in order to promote forgiveness, due to its potential positive influence in
physical and psychological well-being.
This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi/UM), School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (UIDB/01662/2020), by a FCT grant (PTDC/PSI-GER/28163/2017); and by a grant awarded to Frank Fincham (90FE0022) from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.