An interventional study of REACH-FOR in Psychological Well-being, Unforgiveness and Refugees, sponsored by Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Completed at 1 site in Spain. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-30.
Sponsored by Universidad Pontificia Comillas · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
The goal of this study was to find out whether REACH-FOR, a group program that helps people work toward forgiving a past offense, is useful for refugees, including people who cannot read or write well. Many refugees have experienced violence and injustice, and holding on to resentment has been linked to poorer mental health. REACH-FOR adapts the REACH Forgiveness program (Recall, Empathize, Altruistic gift, Commit, Hold on) by replacing written exercises with oral, visual, and group activities and by using examples drawn from refugees' own stories. Eighteen adult refugees living in a temporary reception center in Portugal were randomly assigned to take part in REACH-FOR straight away or to join a waiting list and take part one week later. Participants answered questionnaires about unforgiveness, forgiveness, and well-being before and after the program and one month later.
REACH-FOR was developed through a community-based participatory research approach, drawing on a preliminary qualitative study with refugees and key informants, a literature review, and feedback from a community advisor and partner organization. It keeps the five-step REACH structure (Recall, Empathize, Altruistic gift, Commit, Hold on), the main objective of each session, and the overall dose of Worthington's (2006) group protocol: six 90-minute sessions over three consecutive days, delivered by the researcher with an interpreter for the participants' first language. Changes concerned accessibility and cultural fit rather than content.
In this randomized waiting-list controlled trial, 18 Somali refugees were randomized, stratified by sex, to immediate REACH-FOR (n = 9) or a one-week waiting list (n = 9). The waiting-list group received REACH-FOR after the post-waiting assessment. All participants completed a one-month follow-up. Questionnaires were available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and Somali and were administered offline with KoBo Toolbox.
The intervention had previously been piloted (June 2018) in a non-randomized study with two groups of refugees (n = 23) at the same center; the pilot is reported in the same article but is not part of this registration.
1,065 studies on the registry are indexed under Psychological Well-Being; 508 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 18 is below the median of 109 across 904 interventional studies indexed under Psychological Well-Being.
Browse Psychological Well-Being studies →Universidad Pontificia Comillas is the lead sponsor of 19 studies on the registry; 4 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Participants received the REACH-FOR group intervention immediately after the baseline assessment (n = 9).
Behavioral: REACH-FOR
Participants waited one week without intervention and were then offered and received REACH-FOR (n = 9).
Behavioral: REACH-FOR
Group-based forgiveness intervention adapted from Worthington's REACH Forgiveness model (Recall, Empathize, Altruistic gift, Commit, Hold on) for refugees, including people with low literacy. Six 90-minute sessions over three consecutive days (9 contact hours), delivered by the researcher with an interpreter for the participants' first language. Written exercises are replaced by oral, visual, and group activities, and examples are drawn from refugees' own accounts.
Also known as: REACH Forgiveness adapted for refugees
Change in Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory-12 (TRIM-12) Score From Baseline to Post-intervention
Revenge and avoidance motivations toward the offender of a specific offense identified by the participant (McCullough et al., 1998). 12 items rated 1-5; total score 12-60; higher scores indicate more unforgiveness.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention or post-waiting period (approximately 1 week after baseline)
Change in Decisional Forgiveness Scale (DFS) Score From Baseline to Post-intervention
Intention to behave more forgivingly toward the specific offender (Worthington et al., 2007). 8 items rated 1-5; total score 8-40; higher scores indicate a firmer decision to forgive.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention or post-waiting period (approximately 1 week after baseline)
Change in Emotional Forgiveness Scale (EFS) Score From Baseline to Post-intervention
Emotional forgiveness experienced toward the offender for the specific offense (Worthington et al., 2007). 8 items rated 1-5; total score 8-40; higher scores indicate more emotional forgiveness.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention or post-waiting period (approximately 1 week after baseline)
Change in Trait Forgivingness Scale (TFS) Score From Baseline to Post-intervention
Disposition to forgive across time and situations (Berry et al., 2005). 10 items rated 1-5; total score 10-50; higher scores indicate greater forgivingness.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention or post-waiting period (approximately 1 week after baseline)
Change in Mental Health Continuum - Short Form (MHC-SF) Score From Baseline to Post-intervention
Emotional, social, and psychological well-being over the past month (Keyes, 2005). 14 items rated 0-5; total score 0-70; higher scores indicate greater well-being.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention or post-waiting period (approximately 1 week after baseline)
Change in Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory-12 (TRIM-12) Score From Baseline to 1-Month Follow-up
Revenge and avoidance motivations toward the offender of the specific offense. Total score 12-60; higher scores indicate more unforgiveness.
Time frame: Baseline and 1 month after completing the intervention
Change in Decisional Forgiveness Scale (DFS) Score From Baseline to 1-Month Follow-up
Intention to behave more forgivingly toward the specific offender. Total score 8-40; higher scores indicate a firmer decision to forgive.
Time frame: Baseline and 1 month after completing the intervention
Change in Emotional Forgiveness Scale (EFS) Score From Baseline to 1-Month Follow-up
Emotional forgiveness toward the offender for the specific offense. Total score 8-40; higher scores indicate more emotional forgiveness.
Time frame: Baseline and 1 month after completing the intervention
Change in Trait Forgivingness Scale (TFS) Score From Baseline to 1-Month Follow-up
Disposition to forgive across time and situations. Total score 10-50; higher scores indicate greater forgivingness.
Time frame: Baseline and 1 month after completing the intervention
Change in Mental Health Continuum - Short Form (MHC-SF) Score From Baseline to 1-Month Follow-up
Emotional, social, and psychological well-being over the past month. Total score 0-70; higher scores indicate greater well-being.
Time frame: Baseline and 1 month after completing the intervention
Plan to share: No — De-identified data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request; public sharing is restricted to protect a vulnerable refugee population.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Universidad Pontificia Comillas