Angry Interactions Research Articles

Listening in: An Alternative Method for Measuring the Family Emotional Environment.

The family emotional environment influences children's development of emotion regulation in various ways. Children's difficulties with effectively regulating emotions, in turn, can contribute to the development of psychopathology. However, the pathways that explain how environmental emotion-including overheard emotion among family members-influences children's development of healthy or problematic emotion regulation are unclear. In this article, we briefly discuss the most common methods (e.g., questionnaires, laboratory observations) used to assess emotion in the family. We consider the benefits and limitations of these methods and discuss the need for objective measurement of the family emotional environment. We include a description of the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), which provides unobtrusive, extended sampling of the emotional tone of family interaction in the home. We present preliminary evidence of its use with 7- and 8-year-old and their families during one day at home. The method reveals that objectively assessed parent-to-parent interactions that are negatively toned, but not parental self-report of conflict or expressivity, are associated with children's self-reported emotional reactions to hearing independently recorded clips of their mothers' voices during simulated angry interactions. The finding suggests unique contributions of objective, unobtrusive, extended measurement of the family emotional environment to understanding aspects of children's emotional development that may not be captured with other commonly used methods. We discuss future directions that explore how EAR may be used to further our knowledge of the pathways between environmental emotion as a risk factor that influences children's emotional functioning and their psychological well-being.

Prisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and Violence

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book Forum: Anger/Hostility/ViolenceFull AccessPrisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and ViolenceTHEODORE NADELSON, M.D., THEODORE NADELSONSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., Boston, Mass.Published Online:1 Apr 2002https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.4.688AboutSectionsView EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Aaron Beck is widely known for his contributions to psychotherapy. His cognitive therapy is perhaps the most widely used mode in psychotherapy practice. In this book Dr. Beck focuses exclusively on the application of the principles of the cognitive approach to anger and hostility.The well-known cognitive principle applied to angry outbursts between partners starts with the premise that there is a very rapid but analyzable train of thoughts that occurs between a perceived initial insult and hostile behavior—with an escalation of hot thoughts demanding justice in counterattack. The usual sequence is a perceived attack on self-esteem followed by a feeling of weakness, a feeling of being let down and wronged, and a fixing of blame on the partner, resulting in attack. That may be followed by a deep sense of guilt or continuing resentment, which can build to another attack.The author is not presenting a new scientific study but an application of his principles for cognitive therapy to a particular interpersonal problem. Dr. Beck suggests that those principles are also helpful for communities or nations. Countries are moved toward war for the same reasons that couples argue. War, of course, is far more complex and destructive than family arguments no matter how complex or internecine the familial relationships. Dr. Beck also accepts war as a complex process but is inclined to include individual psychology as a major part of a war’s genesis.During the Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy, angry at Khrushchev for introducing missiles into Cuba, said, “He can’t do that to me,” and the world unknowingly stood on the cusp of massive war. Calm heads prevailed, however (1). A cognitive therapist, Beck could say, might have provided a more comfortable margin against catastrophe.The prelude to many hostile acts is shame and loss of self-esteem. James Gilligan (2) wrote about that brilliantly with regard to a contemporary epidemic of violence among adolescent boys. Self-esteem is essential to people (they will kill for it), and the therapist’s appreciation of this fact can be sharpened by reading this book.Many therapists might say that they already use the cognitive approach to patients and couples, including those who are angry. Indeed, cognitive “analysis” has a place in all therapies. The contribution of this book is in the underlining of the value of cognitive examination for a specific behavioral problem—whether a cognitive approach is the totality of the treatment or a part of it.Dr. Beck also writes about hostile responses as part of evolutionary adaptation and fitness but not in great depth. His discussion of the anger-prone patient makes no reference to borderline disorders. The concept of distal origins, whether evolutionary or residing in certain personality types, is peripheral to Dr. Beck’s prime thesis. He suggests that therapists deal with angry behaviors only in the present. There are, of course, therapists who want to do both—tracing angry interactions to roots in individual experience as well as identifying the contemporary cascade of thoughts from hurt to an irresistible need for justice. This book may not be a revelation to all readers/therapists, but it serves well to underscore the practical helpfulness of a cognitive mode with a particular form of dysfunctional behavior.By Aaron T. Beck, M.D. New York, Harper-Collins, 1999, 354 pp., $26.00; $14.00 (paper).

Coping with Interparental Verbal Conflict by Children Exposed to Spouse Abuse and Children from Nonviolent Homes

Children are distressed by parental conflict, but the influence of the conflict topic has rarely been studied, especially in relation to children's history of witnessing domestic conflict. Responses to three conflict topics (money, child-related, political candidate) were examined in two groups of 5 1/2-through 12-year-olds: 40 children who have witnessed spouse abuse and 72 children from nonviolent homes. Children listened to taped scenarios (with accompanying drawings) of two parents engaged in one friendly and three angry interactions. Children reported their feelings, intensity of feelings, and coping strategies. Children's emotional responses varied from sadness, to anger, to guilt depending on their age and the conflict topic. Primary control strategies for coping with family conflict (e.g., direct intervention) were favored for all. Boys from violent homes responded to certain simulated conflicts with more intense anger and sadness than other children. Results emphasized children's sensitivity to different conflict topics and advance understanding of relations between a history of witnessing spouse abuse and child outcomes.

Children's responses to angry adult behavior as a function of experimentally manipulated exposure to resolved and unresolved conflict

AbstractChildren's past experiences with anger between adults are likely to affect their reactions to ongoing conflict episodes. Four‐ to ten‐year‐olds' responses to interadult anger were examined as a function of experimentally manipulated exposures to resolved and unresolved anger. To manipulate exposure histories, children were first presented with videotaped segments of both resolved and unresolved angry interactions. They were then presented with arguments between the two couples that were interrupted in progress; children were interviewed next. At the point of argument interruption, the couple with a history of unresolved anger was perceived by girls as more sad, expected by children to be more sad in the future, and expected to be less likely to either have a positive future outcome or to resolve their disputes, in comparison to the couple with a resolved anger history. Similarly, children tended to expect to feel sad themselves in the future, in response to the discordant versus the harmonious couple. Several age differences in affective responding were found.

Individual differences in preschoolers' physiological and verbal responses to videotaped angry interactions

Individual differences in selection of intensity of angry interactions and physiological and self-reported responses to interadult anger were examined in preschoolers (N = 34). Children watched two videotaped angry interactions between adults, while their heart rates and skin conductance responses and levels were monitored; then they were interviewed. Before the second argument, children were given the perceived choice of watching an intense or mild angry exchange. Individual differences in responding to the angry interactions were found. Both (a) children with relatively higher externalizing behavior problems and (b) boys who chose to watch intense anger had lower tonic heart rates; 80% of boys with externalizing problems chose to watch intense anger. Further, children who chose to watch intense anger (a) exhibited lower declines in heart rates upon the presentation of the argument, (b) perceived the actors as more angry, and (c) reported lower amounts of distress during the argument than those who chose mild anger.

Availability of Control and Preschoolers' Responses to Interadult Anger

This study examined relations between availability of control and psychobiological and self-reported responses to interadult anger in 4-to 5 year-olds. Children heard two angry interactions between adults, followed by a reconciliation, while their heart rate, and skin conductance response, and level were monitored. Following exposure to each episode they were also interviewed regarding their responses. Control options made available to the experimental group subjects included: (1) terminating exposure to one of the arguments; and (2) proposing an intervention for an expenmenter to carry out. Children in the comparison group just listened to the interactions. The availability of control was associated with greater physiological reactivity to anger. On the other hand, children for whom control options were not available more often perceived adults as distressed and showed a decline in suggestions of control-oriented strategies over trials. The results demonstrate that, in a multi-response investigation, some dimensions of responding varied as a function of experimental manipulations of the availability of control.

Children's responses to different forms of expression of anger between adults.

Anger is not a homogeneous stimulus, but can vary on a variety of dimensions and domains. This study examined children's responses to anger as a function of: (a) the mode of expression of anger (nonverbal, verbal, verbal-physical), and (b) whether or not anger between others was resolved. Children were presented with videotaped segments of angry and friendly interactions and asked questions concerning their responses. All angry interactions, including non-verbal anger, were perceived as negative events and elicited negative emotions. Unresolved anger was perceived as a far more negative event than resolved anger and induced greater feelings of anger and distress in children. Verbal-physical anger was perceived as the most negative form of expression of anger. Boys reported more angry feelings in response to anger than girls. Distress responding was greater in children from homes in which there was interparent physical aggression and in children with behavior problems. Finally, the utility of this methodology is supported by relatively high test-retest reliability and limited evidence of context effects.

Children's Responses to Different Forms of Expression of Anger between Adults

Anger is not a homogeneous stimulus, but can vary on a variety of dimensions and domains. This study examined children's responses to anger as a function of: (a) the mode of expression of anger (nonverbal, verbal, verbal-physical), and (b) whether or not anger between others was resolved. Children were presented with videotaped segments of angry and friendly interactions and asked questions concerning their responses. All angry interactions, including non-verbal anger, were perceived as negative events and elicited negative emotions. Unresolved anger was perceived as a far more negative event than resolved anger and induced greater feelings of anger and distress in children. Verbal-physical anger was perceived as the most negative form of expression of anger. Boys reported more angry feelings in response to anger than girls. Distress responding was greater in children from homes in which there was interparent physical aggression and in children with behavior problems. Finally, the utility of this methodology is supported by relatively high test-retest reliability and limited evidence of context effects.

Young Children's Responses to Expressions of Anger and Affection by Others in the Family

CUMMINGS, E. MARK; ZAHN-WAXLER, CAROLYN; and RADKE-YARROW, MARIAN. Young Children's Responses to Expressions of Anger and Affection by Others in the Family. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1981, 52, 1274-1282. The responses of 1-2k-year-old children as bystanders to naturally occurring and simulated expressions of anger and affection by others were recorded by their mothers, who were trained to act as observers. Expressions of anger seemed to act as socioenvironmental stressors, frequently causing distress in young children. The probability of distress responses was heightened when others' angry interactions included physical attack. Repeated exposure to interparent anger increased the likelihood of a negative emotional reaction by children and also of efforts by children to become actively involved in the conflicts. It was hypothesized that frequently viewing such incidents threatened children's sense of security with regard to their social environment. Affectionate interactions between others were most often responded to with affection and overt signs of pleasure, although jealous responses were not uncommon. The results suggest that, by approximately 1 year of age, children are not only aware of others' angry or affectionate interactions but are also quite likely to evidence an emotional reaction to them.