Self-Forgiveness, Mental Health, and Addictive and Suicidal Behaviors in the Caribbean: Addressing Big Questions and Opening New Vistas
TWCF Number
20709
Project Duration
March 15 / 2022
- July 31 / 2025
Core Funding Area
Character Virtue Development
Region
North America
Amount Awarded
$233,393

* A Grant DOI (digital object identifier) is a unique, open, global, persistent and machine-actionable identifier for a grant.

Director
Loren Toussaint
Institution Luther College

The twin-island country of Trinidad and Tobago has high levels of mental illness, substance use, and suicidal behavior. High rates of suicide, substance use/abuse, and mental illness derive from and contribute to self-condemnation and hopelessness. Promoting self-forgiveness to reduce these self-destructive behaviors might seem self-evident, but the cultural relevance and utility of self-forgiveness in the Caribbean has not yet been studied. This project aims to examine the potential of the REACH self-forgiveness intervention as a tool to alleviate emotional distress, improve mental health and reduce addictive and suicidal behaviors in Trinidad and Tobago. 

Four studies within the project include:

  1. An examination of individuals’ motivations to improve self-forgiveness and perceptions of feasibility of this improvement.
  2. A cultural adaptation study of the REACH Self-Forgiveness intervention, in which a small sample of college and community participants will progress through the REACH Self-Forgiveness intervention and evaluate the intervention for its cultural appropriateness. This study will use focus groups, cognitive interviewing, and qualitative data from the intervention review.
  3.  A cross-cultural validity study examining measures of self-forgiveness, in particular, but also substance use and mental health for reliability and validity.
  4. An evaluation of the REACH Self-Forgiveness intervention among students and community members in Trinidad and Tobago.

The anticipated outputs from this proposal include a number of peer-reviewed journal articles capturing the outcomes of the studies, two conferences, and a website and social media products to disseminate the results to a wide audience.

Disclaimer
Opinions expressed on this page, or any media linked to it, do not necessarily reflect the views of Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc. Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc. does not control the content of external links.
Related Blog Post
NOWTTT Toussaint Wilson interview
Can Forgiving Ourselves Lead to Flourishing? Exploring Self-Forgiveness & Mental Health in the Caribbean
Researchers are studying self-forgiveness as a means to reduce self-destructive behaviors in Trinidad and Tobago.

Read More
Person doing research
Projects &
Resources
Explore the projects we’ve funded. We’ve awarded hundreds of grants to researchers and institutions worldwide.

Projects & Resources