Influence of Resentment and Forgivingness on Quality of Life in People Living With HIV

Life stress is strongly associated with poor mental and physical health and its effects explain significant morbidity and mortality. Forgiveness is one of the factors that can influence the effects of stress on health. By definition, forgiveness is the release of negative feelings, emotions, and behaviors - and possibly the release of positive feelings - toward an offender. Numerous studies have shown that forgiveness is associated with several mental and physical health benefits. The literature argues that high levels of propensity to forgive (trait) predispose that person to experience forgiveness (state) more often. In other words, a stronger forgiving disposition is believed to increase the experience of forgiveness, which, in turn, mitigates the negative effects of stress. Forgiveness is therefore a coping style that can play a beneficial role in the stress-health relationship. Patients living with HIV (PLHIV) are patients particularly exposed to stress, not only because of their chronic pathology but also because of the stigma attached to this disease. Very few studies have studied the impact of forgiveness (state or trait) on the physical health of PLHIV and even fewer the impact of an intervention promoting the disposition to forgive. The objective of this prospective observational monocentric study is to show in a very secular country that forgiveness has an effect on well-being as well as on other health parameters.