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Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation 2024Addictive behavior and suicidal behavior are serious individual- and public-level health concerns. For those struggling with either or both, self-condemnation is a... (Review)
Review
Addictive behavior and suicidal behavior are serious individual- and public-level health concerns. For those struggling with either or both, self-condemnation is a common experience, especially with respect to shame, guilt, and self-stigma. Self-forgiveness, a construct common to both religiousness/spirituality and positive psychology, may be an effective tool in addressing the self-condemnation inherent to those struggling with addictive behavior and suicidal behavior. In this review paper, we discuss (1) the nature and definition of forgiveness, (2) theoretical modeling developed regarding the general association of forgiveness with health, (3) theoretical modeling developed regarding the specific association of forgiveness with better outcomes related to addictive and/or suicidal behavior, (4) the relevance of shame, guilt, and self-stigma to the development and maintenance of addictive and suicidal behavior, and (5) the role of self-forgiveness in addressing self-condemnation, especially shame, guilt, and self-stigma. Little work explicitly focused on the association of self-forgiveness with shame, guilt, and/or self-stigma has been done. However, empirical evidence is accumulating in support of other associations proposed in the Forgiveness-Addiction-Recovery Association (FARA) Model described herein. As such, it is likely that similar support will be found when the focus is deliberately turned to shame, guilt, and self-stigma.
PubMed: 38524663
DOI: 10.2147/SAR.S396964 -
Psychological Reports Aug 2023Studies indicated a distinction between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism regarding their relationships with psychological symptoms. Internal processes occurring in...
Studies indicated a distinction between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism regarding their relationships with psychological symptoms. Internal processes occurring in grandiose and vulnerable narcissism must be considered to better understand the nature of this distinction. The current study aimed to investigate the role of self-conscious emotions (i.e., trait shame, guilt, pride) and anger (i.e., trait anger, internalized and externalized anger) in the association between the two types of narcissism (i.e., grandiose and vulnerable narcissism) and psychological symptoms. Five hundred and fifty-nine adult participants completed the self-report measures to assess for grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, emotions, and psychological symptoms. The results of parallel bootstrapping method indicated that individuals with grandiose traits had fewer psychological symptoms through the role of trait pride. Trait anger and externalization of anger toward others, on the other hand, contributed to the relationship between grandiose traits and heightened psychological symptoms. Vulnerable narcissism was found to be associated with increased psychological symptoms through the role of trait shame, pride, anger, and both internalized and externalized anger. These results indicated that although both forms of narcissism have an anger-prone structure, their distinctive relations with shame, pride, and suppressed anger may indicate different underlying dynamics. Possible implications for practice and suggestions for future studies have also been highlighted.
PubMed: 37615398
DOI: 10.1177/00332941231197167 -
Journal of Reproductive and Infant... Sep 2023Perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder (POCD) is characterised by the presence of intrusive thoughts resulting in significant distress and urges to execute repeated...
INTRODUCTION
Perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder (POCD) is characterised by the presence of intrusive thoughts resulting in significant distress and urges to execute repeated behaviours occurring in the perinatal period. POCD is largely understudied and existing literature has mostly studied POCD quantitatively.
OBJECTIVE
This qualitative study explores the experiences of 10 mothers randomly selected from a larger sample (N = 251; 86.8% White) who met high risk criteria based on the Postnatal Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (POCS≥16). These mothers were interviewed about their experiences with POCD retrospectively.
RESULTS
Qualitative analysis of the interviews (n = 10) revealed three main themes regarding women's experiences with POCD: 1) obsessions (i.e. safety, cleanliness), 2) compulsions (i.e. excessive checking for safety, excessive cleaning, researching information online), and 3) other emotional experiences (i.e. fear, panic, anxiety, suicidal ideation, guilt, shame, irritability/anger).
CONCLUSION
Mothers at high risk for POCD report obsessions and compulsions as well as other emotional experiences that are distressing, demonstrating the enduring impact of POCD beyond the perinatal period.
Topics: Pregnancy; Humans; Female; Mothers; Retrospective Studies; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders
PubMed: 34894885
DOI: 10.1080/02646838.2021.2013457 -
Brain Sciences May 2024Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) report to be especially prone to social emotions like shame and guilt. At the same time, these emotions seem to play...
OBJECTIVE
Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) report to be especially prone to social emotions like shame and guilt. At the same time, these emotions seem to play an important role in BPD pathology. The present study aimed to deepen the knowledge about the processes behind shame and guilt in patients with BPD.
METHODS
Twenty patients with BPD and twenty healthy controls (HCs) took part in an experiment that induced shame and guilt by imagining scenarios during scanning using functional brain imaging. Participants also filled out self-report questionnaires and took part in diagnostic interviews.
RESULTS
BPD patients reported more proneness to guilt but not to shame than the HCs. There was no difference in the self-reported intensity rating of experimentally induced emotions between the groups. Between-group contrast of neural signals in the shame condition revealed a stronger activation of cingulate and fusiform gyrus for the BPD patients compared to the controls, and a more pronounced activation in the lingual gyrus and cuneus for the HCs. In the guilt condition, activation in the caudate nucleus, the fusiform gyrus, and the posterior cingulate cortex was stronger in BPD patients, while HC showed stronger activations in cuneus, lingual gyrus, and fronto-temporal regions.
CONCLUSIONS
Differences in the neuro-functional processes between BPD patients and HC were found, even though the two groups did not differ in their self-report of subjective proneness to guilt and emotional intensity of shame and guilt during the experiment. While the HCs may be engaged more by the emotional scenarios themselves, the BPD patients may be more occupied with cognitive regulatory and self-referential processing.
PubMed: 38928549
DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14060549 -
Behaviour Research and Therapy Sep 2023It is well-established that negative affect acts as predictor and maintenance factor of problematic eating behaviors. However, the relevance of different facets of...
It is well-established that negative affect acts as predictor and maintenance factor of problematic eating behaviors. However, the relevance of different facets of negative affect is unclear. While guilt was consistently shown as having a relevant contribution in relation with problematic eating patterns, shame might play a similar role. The current study used an ecological momentary assessment design to assess associations between facets of shame and subsequent disturbed eating behaviors. The study included 57 females with high levels of eating disorders (ED) symptomatology who completed five surveys per day for 14 consecutive days. Participants completed measures of facets of shame (i.e., general shame, body shame, shame around eating), negative affect and problematic eating behaviors (i.e., binge eating, restriction, weighting, body checking, purging, taking laxative/diuretics and excessive exercise). Data were analyzed using multilevel models. In general, between-subjects facets of shame were associated with more disturbed eating behaviors, with shame explaining a significantly and clinically relevant percent of the variance of these problematic eating behaviors. At the within-subject level, facets of shame predicted subsequent binge eating, body checking and excessive exercise. These findings support the role of shame in ED symptomatology and the relevance of directly tackling shame in psychological treatments.
Topics: Female; Humans; Ecological Momentary Assessment; Feeding Behavior; Shame; Binge-Eating Disorder; Guilt; Bulimia; Feeding and Eating Disorders
PubMed: 37542804
DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2023.104381 -
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Dec 2023Psycho-social experiences including shame and experienced and internalized stigma have been associated with substance use, HCV infection, and reluctance to disclose HCV... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
Psycho-social experiences including shame and experienced and internalized stigma have been associated with substance use, HCV infection, and reluctance to disclose HCV status and pursue treatment. These psycho-social barriers have been examined independently for many chronic diseases, including HCV, but to our knowledge have not been quantitatively explored in a large multi-site US-based sample of people who inject drugs (PWID) in HCV treatment.
METHODS
We examine baseline relationships with HCV-stigma and engagement across the HCV treatment cascade as well as baseline and longitudinal relationships between shame and engagement across the HCV treatment cascade including treatment initiation, adherence, completion, and sustained virologic response (SVR) among a multi-site sample of PWID with HCV, where N=755 were randomized to the pragmatic trial comparing HCV treatment outcomes in modified directly observed treatment (mDOT) or patient navigation, and N=623 initiated treatment.
RESULTS
While cross-sectional assessments of shame and HCV-stigma were not associated with engagement across the HCV treatment cascade, those whose shame scores decreased compared to those who reported consistently high and increasing levels of shame were significantly more likely to complete HCV treatment (aOR=5.29; 95%CI: 1.56,18.00) and achieve SVR (aOR=6.32; 95%CI: 1.61, 24.87).
CONCLUSION
Results underscore the relationships between lower levels of shame and health-related behavior and treatment outcomes among PWID and suggest SVR achievement may contribute to reductions in shame or that reductions in shame may contribute to continued treatment and thus SVR.
Topics: Humans; Antiviral Agents; Substance Abuse, Intravenous; Drug Users; Cross-Sectional Studies; Hepatitis C; Shame; Hepacivirus
PubMed: 37951006
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.111013 -
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical... Oct 2023This paper begins by developing the critical phenomenologies of shame and empathy. It rejects that empathy is the supposed antidote to shame, and rather demonstrates the...
This paper begins by developing the critical phenomenologies of shame and empathy. It rejects that empathy is the supposed antidote to shame, and rather demonstrates the ways in which they function in parallel. The author contends that both shame and indeed empathy risk objectifying and fetishizing the other who is being shamed or empathized with. This argument and phenomenology about the relationship between shame and empathy is then applied and further developed through a case study of COVID-19 vaccinations. The author explores whether empathy and shame ever "work" to increase vaccine uptake, and ultimately argues that both affects do and do not depending on the structures of power informing the specific context.
Topics: Humans; Empathy; COVID-19 Vaccines; COVID-19; Shame; Vaccination
PubMed: 36156834
DOI: 10.1111/jep.13761 -
The Journal of Social Psychology Mar 2024This study provides support for the theory that individual shame prevents individuals from recognizing their implicit racial biases. Participants across two studies in...
This study provides support for the theory that individual shame prevents individuals from recognizing their implicit racial biases. Participants across two studies in multiple conditions took the Race IAT, received feedback about their implicit racial bias, and then completed the Shame IAT. We created various conditions either to attribute their implicit racial bias to the self or to create an alternative explanation. The results demonstrated that when individuals attributed their implicit racial bias to themselves vs. an alternative attribution, they subsequently expressed higher levels of interpersonal shame, through increased associations between self-referential and shameful words. The need for positive self-esteem or the avoidance of a negative emotion such as shame may lead participants to avoid examining their own implicit racial biases.
Topics: Humans; Racism; Social Perception
PubMed: 35240949
DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2022.2046538 -
Journal of Adolescence Oct 2023Body-related shame is a negative self-conscious emotion that is heightened during adolescence and is associated with several adverse outcomes. Of particular interest,...
INTRODUCTION
Body-related shame is a negative self-conscious emotion that is heightened during adolescence and is associated with several adverse outcomes. Of particular interest, and informed by Objectification Theory, body-related shame may impact attentional focus because the experience of this intense emotion may limit cognitive resources required to effectively engage in tasks. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between body-related shame and attentional focus over time during adolescence.
METHODS
Adolescents (n = 160; M ± SD = 16.05 ± 0.98; 80% self-identifying girls) completed an online survey in 2022 at baseline (Time 1) and 3 months later (Time 2). Stepwise regression was used to test the association between body-related shame and attentional focus, with weight perception included as a covariate.
RESULTS
The regression model demonstrated that higher body-related shame predicted poorer attentional focus 3 months later (β = -0.44, p < .001), after controlling for weight perception (14% variance explained in attention).
CONCLUSIONS
Findings support and extend theoretical tenets by highlighting the potential importance of targeting body-related shame to reduce the negative impact on attentional focus among adolescents.
PubMed: 37439039
DOI: 10.1002/jad.12216