Anger In Adolescents Research Articles

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anger in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis

The meta-analysis of the treatment outcome studies of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anger-related problems in children and adolescents included 21 published and 19 unpublished reports. The mean effect size (Cohen's d=0.67) was in the medium range and consistent with the effects of psychotherapy with children in general. The differential effects of skills training, problem solving, affective education, and multimodal interventions (d=0.79, 0.67, 0.36, and 0.74, respectively) were variable although also generally in the medium range. Skills training and multimodal treatments were more effective in reducing aggressive behavior and improving social skills. However, problem-solving treatments were more effective in reducing subjective anger experiences. Modeling, feedback, and homework techniques were positively related to the magnitude of effect size.

Anger and hostility in adolescents: Relationships with self-reported attachment style and perceived parental rearing styles

Objective To examine relationships between self-reported attachment style and parental rearing behaviors, on the one hand, and anger/hostility, on the other hand, in a sample of nonclinical adolescents ( N=441). Method Participants completed (a) a single-item measure of attachment style; (b) a questionnaire measuring perceptions of parental rearing behaviors; and (c) two scales assessing anger and hostility. Results Self-reported attachment style was related to anger/hostility. That is, adolescents who defined themselves as avoidantly or ambivalently attached displayed higher levels of anger/hostility than adolescents who classified themselves as securely attached. Furthermore, perceived parental rearing was also related to anger/hostility. More specifically, low levels of emotional warmth and high levels of rejection, control, and inconsistency were accompanied by high levels of anger/hostility. Finally, regression analyses showed that both attachment status and parental rearing behaviors accounted for a unique and significant proportion of the variance in anger/hostility. Conclusion These findings are in keeping with the notion that family environment factors such as attachment style and parental rearing are involved in the development of anger/hostility in youths.

Prediction on the negative outcomes of anger in female adolescents

This study was designed to construct a structural model for explaining negative outcomes of anger in female adolescents. Data was collected by questionnaires from 199 female adolescents ina female high school in Seoul. Data analysis was done with SAS for descriptive statistics and a PC-LISREL Program for Covariance structural analysis. The fit of the hypothetical model to the data was moderate, thus it was modified by excluding 7 paths and adding free parameters to it. The modified model with the paths showed a good fit to the empirical data(chi2=5.62, p=.69, GFI=.99, AGFI=.97, NFI=.99, NNFI=1.01, RMSR=.02, RMSEA=.00). Trait anger, state anger, and psychosocial problems were found to have a significant direct effect on psychosomatic symptoms. State anger, psychosocial problems, and learning behaviors were found to have direct effects on depression of female adolescents. The derived model is considered appropriate for explaining and predicting negative outcomes of anger in female adolescents. Therefore, it can effectively be used as a reference model for further studies and is a suggested direction in nursing practice.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anger in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis

The meta-analysis of the treatment outcome studies of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anger-related problems in children and adolescents included 21 published and 19 unpublished reports. The mean effect size (Cohen's d=0.67) was in the medium range and consistent with the effects of psychotherapy with children in general. The differential effects of skills training, problem solving, affective education, and multimodal interventions ( d=0.79, 0.67, 0.36, and 0.74, respectively) were variable although also generally in the medium range. Skills training and multimodal treatments were more effective in reducing aggressive behavior and improving social skills. However, problem-solving treatments were more effective in reducing subjective anger experiences. Modeling, feedback, and homework techniques were positively related to the magnitude of effect size.

Anger assessment with the STAXI-CA: psychometric properties of a new instrument for children and adolescents

Abstract A Spanish adaptation of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory for children and adolescent population, was derived from the original English adult inventory to assess the experience, expression and control of anger in Spanish children and adolescents (STAXI; Spielberger, 1988). A sample of 2191 subjects, 940 female and 1251 male, between 7 and 17 years old from several urban settings participated in the study. Items were selected and analysed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and a 32-item questionnaire in 4 dimensions and eight 4-item facets was obtained: Anger-State (Verbal and Physical Anger, Anger Feelings), Anger-Trait (Anger Temperament, Anger Reactions), Anger-Expression (Anger-Expression/In, Anger-Expression/Out), and Anger-Control (Anger-Control/In, Anger-Control/Out). The factor structure was fairly robust, both for boys and girls, while internal consistency and test–retest reliability was acceptable, except for Anger-Expression facets. Convergent and discriminant validity was studied in the adolescent subgroup in regard to measures of aggressiveness, sociability and sensation-seeking personality, as well as three and five factor personality models previously validated in the same cultural context.

Anger in adolescents: sex, ethnicity, age differences, and psychometric properties.

The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), a self-report questionnaire, is designed to measure the experience and expression of anger. Reliability and validity of the STAXI have been well established among African and European Americans aged 13 years and older. However, little is known of the use of this instrument among adolescents younger than 13 years and Hispanic American adolescents. Objectives were (a) to test ethnic, sex, and age group differences in STAXI scores in a sample of 11-to-16-year-old African, Hispanic, and European American adolescents; and (b) to assess the psychometric properties of the STAXI among these same adolescents with special emphasis on Hispanic youths, for whom no data are available. A cross-sectional design was used with stratified quota sampling techniques. Participants (N = 394) were African, Hispanic, and European Americans aged 11-16 years and were drawn from one public middle school and two public high schools in Houston, Texas. Internal consistency reliability for the anger scales (STAXI) ranged from 0.61 (anger-in) to 0.91 (state-anger) for the younger group (aged 11-13 years), and 0.68 (anger-in) to 0.88 (state-anger) for the older Hispanic Americans (aged 14-16). No notable differences were seen among the three ethnic groups in regards to internal consistency. Results of factor analyses of the five anger scales were similar to those reported originally by the scale author. Ethnicity and age had statistically significant main effects on the anger scales, and there was only one interaction. The use of the STAXI among a tri-ethnic adolescent population is warranted. The anger-in scale may be less reliable, especially among younger adolescents.

Perceived Discrimination and Early Substance Abuse among American Indian Children

This study investigated internalizing and externalizing symptoms as potential mediators of the relationship between perceived discrimination and early substance abuse among 195 American Indian 5 through 8 graders from three reservations that share a common culture (e.g., language, spiritual beliefs, and traditional practices) in the upper Midwest. The findings indicated that, although perceived discrimination contributed significantly to internalizing symptoms among the adolescents, internalizing symptoms were unrelated to early substance abuse. Rather, the effects of perceived discrimination on early substance abuse were mediated by adolescent anger and delinquent behaviors. The results are discussed in terms of the consequences of perceived discrimination on the development of American Indian early adolescents.

Initial Development and Score Validation of the Adolescent Anger Rating Scale

The Adolescent Anger Rating Scale (AARS) was designed to (a) measure two distinct types of anger: instrumental and reactive, and (b) assist researchers and practitioners in identifying specific types of anger in adolescents. The present study investigated the construct validity of AARS scores. Seven hundred ninety-two 12-to 19-year-old adolescents in Grades 7 through 12 participated in the study. Factor analysis yielded three factors: Instrumental Anger, Reactive Anger, and Anger Control. Moderate to moderately high Cronbach alphas and test-retest reliability coefficients indicated that scores from the AARS are internally consistent and stable when measuring anger subtypes. Discriminant validity evidence supported the AARS scores’ ability to measure specific types of anger different from constructs of anger measured by the Multidimensional Anger Inventory (MAI).

Internalized anger, self-control, and mastery experience in inpatient anorexic adolescents

Objectives: To evaluate the implications of internalized anger, self-control and experience of mastery for adolescent girls with severe anorexia nervosa (AN). Methods: Internalized and externalized anger, internal and external control, mastery, use of methods for self-control, and severity of anorexic symptoms were measured by self-report questionnaires in inpatient anorexic teenagers ( N=26), inpatient female adolescent psychiatric patients ( N=24), and a normal female comparison group ( N=29). Results: Internalized anger was significantly higher in both the anorexic and general psychiatric patients as compared to normal controls, but this difference was significant only for the anorexic patients. Anorexic and general psychiatric patients experienced significantly less mastery than normal controls, but again this difference was significant only in the anorexic group. Within the anorexic group, severity of symptoms correlated significantly with internalized anger, low mastery, and external locus of control, and negative significant correlations among control measures and anger were found. Total length of hospitalization correlated positively with internalized anger only for the anorexics. Conclusion: The findings support the notion that internalized anger and defective experience of self-control are important factors in the psychopathology of adolescent anorexic inpatient females The results may have implications for the clinical management of patients with severe AN.

Positive and negative outcomes of anger in early adolescents.

The purposes of this study were to examine symptom patterns and diminished general well-being as negative outcomes and vigor and change as positive outcomes of trait and state anger via two structural equation models. In a school auditorium, a convenience sample of 141 boys and girls, ages 12-14 years, responded to the Trait Anger Scale and the State Anger Scale and to instruments measuring general well-being, symptom patterns, vigor, and change. In the negative outcome model, results indicated that diminished general well-being and increased symptom patterns were outcomes of trait anger and state anger in early adolescents. In the positive outcome model, contrary to expectation, less vigor and less inclination to change were outcomes of trait anger in early adolescents, while state anger had no appreciable influence on the same variables. The findings suggest that anger, particularly trait anger, had a negative influence on the outcome variables studied.

Positive and negative outcomes of anger in early adolescents

Positive and negative outcomes of anger in early adolescents

An empirical test of alternate theories of anger in early adolescents.

Anger is an especially important phenomenon to understand in early adolescents. While many explanatory theories of state anger can be applied to early adolescents, few, if any, researchers have attempted to test these theories in this age group. To test three theories explaining state anger vis-a-vis each other using hierarchical analysis of sets. This was a theory-testing study with a complex correlational design. A total of 141 adolescents aged 12 to 14 years responded to the State Anger Scale and instruments measuring variables linked to stress theory (perceived stress and primary appraisal), differential emotion theory (depression and state anxiety), and trait theory (trait anger and hostility), that were randomly ordered across instrument packets. Using hierarchical analysis of sets, the results indicated that the sets of variables used to test all three theories explained a statistically significant proportion of variance in state anger when entered first in the analysis. Comparatively, the trait theory variables explained more variance in state anger when entered first (41%) in the analysis than did the emotion theory variables when entered first (31%) in the analysis or the stress theory variables when entered first (21%) in the analysis. The stress theory, the differential emotion theory, and the trait theory all provided theoretically sound and relevant explanations of state anger for early adolescents. However, the trait theory provided the most powerful explanation.

Transmission of Emotions in the Daily Interactions of Single-Mother Families

Key Words: emotional transmission, family process, one-parent families, parent-adolescent relationships. This study examines the paths of emotional transmission in one-parent, mother-headed families. One hundred adolescents and their single mothers provided self-reports of their immediate experience at random times when signaled by alarm watches over I week. Time sequence analyses indicated that mothers' immediate anxiety and anger were related to subsequent anxiety and anger in adolescents, but adolescents' negative emotions were not related to subsequent negative emotions in their mothers. The transmission of anxiety to adolescents was most evident in families in which mothers had more stress and employed psychological control in their parenting. It was least evident in families in which mothers spent more time alone. These ,findings suggest daily processes whereby distress is propagated in some families and contained in others. Families are emotional systems in which strong feelings experienced by one family member may be dealt with and subdued or may be propagated by being transmitted to other family members. Knowledge of the paths of emotional transmission in families is important for understanding how stress and distress in one member's life enters the family system and affects the well-being of other members (Larson & Almeida, 1999). Longitudinal studies have documented that depression or other forms of maladjustment in one family member, particularly a parent, leads to maladjustment in others (Conger, Patterson, & Ge, 1995; Downey & Coyne, 1990; Easterbrooks & Emde, 1988; Grych & Fincham, 1990; McLoyd, 1989; Patterson & Dishion, 1988). However, we have little direct information about the daily processes whereby this maladjustment is conveyed among family members, nor do we know what occurs in some families that prevents it from being conveyed. Repeated daily occurrence of emotional transmission may be the immediate mechanism responsible for creating and sustaining these long-term effects. Diary and time-sampling research suggests that in two-parent families emotions tend to flow from the father and husband to other family members (Bolger, DeLongis, Kessler, & Wethington, 1989), a path of transmission that may reflect the adult male's position of power (Larson & Richards, 1994a). For one-parent, mother-headed familieswith no father in the home-two contrasting hypotheses could be proposed. Some have argued that relationships between single mothers and their children, particularly adolescent children, are more peer-like, that the parent is less dominant than parents in two-parent families (Demo, 1992; Glenwick & Mowrey, 1986; Weiss, 1979). This might suggest symmetry in paths of transmission-that single parents and adolescents are equally likely to transmit emotions to each other. An alternate hypothesis is suggested by a theoretical perspective that sees the well-being of children in one-parent families to be especially sensitive to the stress and well-being of the parent (Amato, 1993; Simons & Associates, 1996). This perspective leads to the prediction that emotions in the lives of single parents may have more effect on children's, even adolescents', emotions than the reverse. To examine these competing predictions, this study employs data from the immediate daily lives of single mothers and their adolescent children. We evaluate whether emotions are transmitted bidirectionally between parent and adolescent or unidirectionally from mother to adolescent. In addition, we examine the sources of emotions that are transmitted and evaluate moderators of this transmission. BACKGROUND Emotional Transmission in Two-Parent Families Prior research on daily emotional transmission in families has dealt almost entirely with couples and two-parent families. Nonetheless, it is a useful starting point for thinking about the emotional dynamics of one-parent families. …

The relationship between parental anger and behavior problems in children and adolescents.

Two studies examined the relationship between parental trait anger, parental symptomatology, and children's and adolescents' emotional/behavioral problems. Results of Study 1 suggested that parental trait anger did not serve as a mediator between parental symptoms and children's emotional/behavioral problems. Study 2, however, suggested that parental trait anger did serve as a mediator between parental depression and adolescents' emotional/behavioral problems. For internalizing behaviors, inward anger expression and trait anger were mediators in father-son dyads, and outward anger expression was a mediator in mother-daughter dyads. For externalizing behavior, inward anger expression was a mediator in father-son dyads, and outward anger expression was a mediator in mother-son dyads. These results suggest the importance of examining parental dispositions toward anger in relation to the psychological symptoms family members may experience.

The relationship between parental anger and behavior problems in children and adolescents.

The relationship between parental anger and behavior problems in children and adolescents.

Anger expression in Mexican American and White non-Hispanic adolescents.

This study explored aggressive anger expression in adolescents. A 3-factor model proved best (i.e., Expression through Verbal Assault, Physical Assault Toward People, and Physical Assault Toward Objects). These factors correlated positively with each other and with anger, anxiety, and depression. Correlations of aggressive anger expression styles with anger were larger than their correlations with anxiety and depression. Gender, ethnicity, and developmental effects were found; males reported more physical assault on people than females, and White non-Hispanic and older youths reported more verbal assault than Mexican American and younger students. Both middle and high school students reported greater verbal assault than physical assault on objects which, in turn, was higher than physical assault on people. These findings suggest that adolescent aggressive anger expression is not unidimensional, but is more differentiated and meaningfully related to gender, ethnicity, and developmental status.

Childhood anger: so common, yet so misunderstood.

To review findings of recent research studies on anger in children and adolescents, the outcomes of mishandled anger and interventions to promote appropriate anger management. Published literature. Anger may be a healthy or unhealthy response in children experiencing small frustrations or great injustices. Research findings vary and there is a need to clearly define anger and the correlates of anger in children and adolescents. In addition, there are limited studies on anger management strategies and their effectiveness that would assist healthcare professionals.

Concurrent validity of the MMPI-A in a counseling program for juvenile offenders.

This study was conducted to examine the concurrent validity of the MMPI-A (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent) in an adolescent offender setting. From a sample of 50 court-adjudicated youths participating in an outpatient counseling program, 42 valid MMPI-A profiles were obtained, 33 of which were accompanied by counselor ratings of behavior problems. The highest mean elevations on the MMPI-A were on scales MAC-R (MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale-Revised), A-Con (Adolescent Conduct Problems), A-Sch (Adolescent School Problems), Pd (Psychopathic Deviate), and IMM (Adolescent Immaturity). Counselor ratings of behavior problems correlated highly with scales ACK (Alcohol and Drug Acknowledgment Scale), A-Sch, A-Ang (Adolescent Anger Problems), Ma (Hypomania), and PRO (Alcohol/Drug Problem Proneness). This pattern of results supports the concurrent validity of the MMPI-A for use in this setting.

Adolescent blood pressure, anger expression and hostility: possible links with body fat

An uncertain relation between health and angry/hostile behaviour exists in the literature on adolescents. With data from a pilot study, one possible reason for this is explored: health measures such as blood pressure as well as angry/hostile behaviours may change with, or depend upon physical maturity, body size and body fatness. The sample consists of 60 African-, Hispanic-, and Anglo-American adolescents (15 to 16 years of age) drawn from a public school in Houston, TX. Using resting diastolic blood pressure as a model, in a sex stratified analysis, the following conclusions were reached: Physical maturity in girls and body height in boys were related to ethnicity in the sample and were confounders of the blood pressure and anger relationship. In girls secretive anger (‘anger-in’) and hostility were associated with increased body fat; expressive anger (‘anger-out’) in boys is associated with increased conicity (central body fat distribution) ( p

Adolescents' experiences of anger in a residential setting

There is a substantial literature, covering a range of populations, looking at the phenomenon of anger and its expression. However, remarkably little is known about adolescent experiences of anger. The present study looks at adolescent anger within the confines of a residential establishment. Using a qualitative methodology to consider young peoples' own accounts of anger-provoking incidents, a description is given of typical settings, reactions, and outcomes in angry incidents. The implications of this information for both staff training and anger management programmes is explored.