The Beliefs, Attitudes and Views of University Students about Anger and the Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Oriented Anger Control and Anxiety Management Programs on Their Anger Management Skill Levels

Abstract

AbstractThis study was designed as a qualitative focus group using a randomized controlled trail with a mixed methodology. The study has dual aims. First we searched the beliefs, attitudes and views of 176 university students on how to deal with anger using eight focus discussion groups. The anxiety and anger levels of these students were investigated with the Beck Anxiety Inventory and State Trait Anger Scale, and these values were accepted as pretest scores for the participants. The 32 students with the highest scores were selected. These students were randomized into study (n = 16 students) and control groups (n = 16 students). The participants in the study group received a behavioral therapy-oriented anger management skills training program consisting of 11 sessions, 90 minutes per session. After the program was completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory and State Trait Anger Scale were re-administered to both participants in the study and control groups, giving the post-test results. The study group attended two enhancement sessions, three and six. months after the termination of the program, and these tests were then reapplied to both groups of participants (1 st follow-up and 2nd follow-up tests). The findings revealed that the anxiety levels of the participants in the study group had decreased while statistically thei r anger control levels were significantly improved (pKeywordsAnxiety, Anger Control, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Anger Management Training, University Students.Anxiety is described as a state of mood and emotion experienced in the form of tension and fear, and directing individuals towards reacting (Schully, 1989; Stanley & Beck, 2000). The danger perceived within normal anxiety is based upon reality. However, the perception of danger in pathological anxiety is not in accordance with reality (Beck, 1976). Expectation of disaster (the reason for which is not defined), general discomfort, quick temper, muscle stretching, impatience, having difficulty in condensing one's thoughts and sleep disorders are observed in general anxiety disorder (DSM-IV-TR, 2000; Ozturk, 2002). These symptoms are related to the physiological, cognitive and behavioristic components of anxiety (Albano & Kendall, 2002). Cognitive therapists believe that the content of thoughts and beliefs are full of catastrophic scenarios in general anxiety disorder (Leahy, 2004; Wells, 1997). According to Beck (1976), anxiety appears when a person finds out that he/she lacks sufficient capacity to cope with the dangers in the presence of threats. However, anger arises when a person thinks that his/her rights are being overridden. In other words, anger emanates from social relations threatening self-assertion (Weber, Weiding, Freyer & Gralher, 2004). In both moods, the individual behaves unreasonably when he/she perceives inner and outer stimulants by distorting them from a cognitive point of view (Deffenbacher & Stark, 1992). However, according to the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Approach, the intolerably illogical thoughts developing in social and emotional life trigger anger and anxiety (Harrington, 2006). …