Childhood Abuse, Empathy, and Forgiveness in Young Adults

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between young adults' empathy, forgiveness, and childhood abuse. The association among childhood abuse, empathy, and forgiveness in young people was predicted to be significant. The variables were analyzed cross-sectionally using a quantitative correlational research approach. Young adults with a mean age of 21.34 years (SD = 2.54) were recruited for the sample (N = 119; n = 58 boys, n = 61 girls) using a non-probability convenience sampling technique. Data were gathered from a university. To evaluate the research variables, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein & Fink, 1998), the Empathy Quotient (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004), the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson et al., 2005), and a demographics sheet were employed. The study's findings showed a significant positive correlation between the forgiveness of young adults and their experiences of emotional and childhood maltreatment. Additionally, sexual abuse was positively correlated with empathy. However, empathy was not a significant predictor of forgiveness. The findings have been discussed in the context of the Pakistani setting and relevant scientific literature.

Keywords: childhood abuse, empathy, forgiveness