The mediating role of self-compassion and forgiveness in the effect of negative metacognitive beliefs on repetitive negative thinking in those with PTSD symptoms.

The experience of traumatic events such as extreme violence, sexual abuse, war, or natural disasters can cause heightened anxiety and the development of a variety of mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study aimed to investigate the mediating role of self-compassion and forgiveness in the effect of negative metacognitive beliefs on repetitive negative thinking in those with PTSD symptoms. There was a total of 74 participants consisting of males (n = 43), females (n = 28), and gender neutral (n = 3) aged 18 and over (Age; males, M = 30.63, SD = 7.027, females, M = 30.14, SD = 9.671, and gender neutral, M = 46.00, SD = 0.000) who were clinical patients receiving treatments for posttraumatic stress disorders. Participants completed a short demographic questionnaire, the self-compassion scale - Short Form (SCS-SF), Metacognitive Questionnaire (MCQ-30), Bolton Forgiveness Scale (BFS), and Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire-10 (RTQ-10). The results revealed that negative metacognitive beliefs predicted RNT with a positive correlation (p<.001), forgiveness predicted RNT with an inverse relationship (p<.001), and self-compassion was a negative correlate of RNT (p<.001). Furthermore, forgiveness mediated the effect of negative metacognitive beliefs on RNT (p<.001). This study has provided insight that becoming more forgiving may weaken the impact of negative metacognitive beliefs on RNT in individuals with PTSD or posttraumatic stress symptoms, and self-compassion may well have a reductive effect on RNT.