Anger Problems Research Articles

Time Deficits with Children: The Link to Parents' Mental and Physical Health.

Time spent with children has become a central concern in North American parenting culture. Using the 2011 Canadian Work, Stress, and Health study (N = 2,007), we examine employed parents' perceptions about having too little time with children and whether these relate to parents' mental and physical health. The "pernicious stressor" hypothesis posits that the demands of paid work combined with intensive mothering or involved fathering create unique time tensions that act as chronic stressors and that these are associated with poorer health and well-being. Alternatively, the "public face" hypothesis suggests that parents often present themselves as good mothers or fathers through an expressed lack of time with children, but statements are superficial and thus are not related to health. We find that about half of employed parents perceive time shortfalls with children; work hours, schedule control, location of work, and family context predict perceived time deficits with children. Supporting the pernicious stressor hypothesis, expressed time deficits are associated with distress, anger, and sleep problems, even when adjusting for work and family factors.

Exploring the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for Vietnamese adolescents with anger problems

The evidence base for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is promising for the treatment of anger in both adults and children in most European and Western countries. The goal of the current study was to explore the effectiveness of this therapeutic approach for anger problems in Vietnam as a non-Western culture and non-English speaking country. A randomized controlled trial was undertaken with 40 adolescents for three months, using different CBT techniques. A medium effect size of .64 (Cohen's d) was found for a CBT intervention. Anger management skills of older adolescents (aged from 14 to 16) improved more than those of younger adolescents (aged from 12 to 13). The findings of the current study replicated previous studies regarding the high cost-effectiveness of CBT intervention for anger problems in children and adolescents. Furthermore, the suitability of the group CBT format for the treatment of anger within this study was consistent with other studies as well. This adds valuable evidence to the paucity of CBT literature on culturally responsive CBT in diverse populations. Despite this, more research is needed to produce evidence-based CBT for other Asian countries as well as other populations.

Effectiveness of an Anger Intervention for Military Members with PTSD: A Clinical Case Series.

Problematic anger is a significant clinical issue in military personnel, and is further complicated by comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite increasing numbers of military personnel returning from deployment with anger and aggression difficulties, the treatment of problematic anger has received scant attention. There are currently no interventions that directly target problematic anger in the context of military-related PTSD. The aim of this case series is to examine the effectiveness of an intervention specifically developed for treating problematic anger in current serving military personnel with comorbid PTSD. Eight Australian Defence Force Army personnel with problematic anger and comorbid PTSD received a manualized 12-session cognitive behaviorally based anger intervention, delivered one-to-one by Australian Defence Force mental health clinicians. Standardized measures of anger, PTSD, depression, and anxiety were administered pre- and post-treatment. The initial mean severity scores for anger indicated a high degree of pre-treatment problematic anger. Anger scores reduced significantly from pre to post-treatment (d = 1.56), with 88% of participants exhibiting meaningful reduction in anger scores. PTSD symptoms also reduced significantly (d = 0.96), with 63% of participants experiencing a clinically meaningful reduction in PTSD scores. All of those who took part in the therapy completed all therapy sessions. This brief report provides preliminary evidence that an intervention for problematic anger not only significantly reduces anger levels in military personnel, but can also significantly reduce PTSD symptoms. Given that anger can interfere with PTSD treatment outcomes, prioritizing anger treatment may improve the effectiveness of PTSD interventions.

National Guard Service Member Reintegration Experiences: The Transition Back Home

ABSTRACTAs citizen-soldiers who maintain military and civilian roles, National Guard service members may experience unique challenges during reintegration. In the current study, 78 Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom National Guard service members completed semistructured interviews on their reintegration experiences. Many soldiers reported smooth reintegration experiences, but others reported challenges. When soldiers reported mental health issues, they usually reported anger problems and alcohol misuse. Help seeking was not frequently reported. The findings highlight the complex interactions among reintegration domains, particularly the influence of family members on help-seeking. Continued efforts are needed to facilitate service delivery and promote smooth reintegration experiences among National Guard service members.

Addiction profiles of patients with substance dependency living in Adiyaman province

Substance dependence is a pervasive international problem that severely affect the physical and mental health of the individuals who have them, their families, especially the vulnerable teenagers who are at risk of developing physical and mental health problems and substance abuse because of their parentÂ’s addictions. In contrast to the magnitude of the problem, little research and practice literature addresses these issues. The aim of the present study was to investigate the addiction profiles of patients with substance dependency living in Adiyaman. This study was conducted on addicted males in Adiyaman, Turkey. A total of 80 consecutively presenting males who agreed to participate in the study were evaluated. Data were collected with the Personal Information Form, Addiction Profile Index Clinical Form (API-C)-Practitioner Form. 4 patients (5%) had low addiction severity (1.6 points below), 41 patients (51.2%) had moderate addiction severity (1.6 to 4.6 points), and 35 patients (%43.8) had high addiction severity. There was a significant difference in terms of substance use characteristics subscale (p=0,019), anger management problems subscale (p=0,005), and novelty seeking behaviour subscale (p=0,002) in comparison of API subscales, API total scores, and API-C additional subscales according to age (≤25 years and >25 years). The vast majority of patients were found to have a moderate or high addiction severity, especially in young patients. It was seen that the anger problems and novelty seeking behaviours were more related to age. These characteristics, which are mostly related to young patients, should be considered during substance abuse treatment.

Programs for Young Patients Can Help Them Achieve Life’s Milestones

Programs for Young Patients Can Help Them Achieve Life’s Milestones

Changes in Problematic Anger, Shame, and Disgust in Anxious and Depressed Adults Undergoing Treatment for Emotion Dysregulation

Emotion dysregulation, the pervasive difficulty managing negative emotions, is a core problem across mood and anxiety disorders. Anger, shame, and disgust are particularly problematic emotions, impacting both disorder severity and treatment outcome. We previously found that a 16-week dialectical behavior therapy skills training group (DBT-ST) was superior to an activities-based support group (ASG) in decreasing emotion dysregulation in 44 adults with high emotion dysregulation who met diagnostic criteria for an anxiety or depressive disorder. We presently examine these participants’ changes in anger, shame, disgust, and distress using self-reports collected over 6 months during and after treatment. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses show that DBT-ST was superior to ASG in decreasing anger suppression (d = 0.93) and distress (d = 1.04). Both conditions significantly reduced shame, disgust propensity, and disgust sensitivity, but neither was superior for these outcomes. The treatments did not significantly reduce anger expression. Mediation analyses suggest that condition indirectly influenced 4-month anger suppression, shame, and distress through its effect on 2-month emotion dysregulation. These findings suggest that DBT-ST is efficacious for certain problematic emotions and distress in depressed and anxious adults and that common factors may account for some, but not all, of its benefits.

High Trait Anger, Interpersonal Context, and the Recognition of Anger Problems

Background: High trait anger is usually destructive for individuals and their relationships. This proneness to anger is reflected in frequent angry feelings, for longer periods of time, and with higher levels of physical arousal and negative expressions (e.g., insulting or arguing with others). Unfortunately, not all individuals with high trait anger recognize the problem. Objective: This research assessed the contribution of the interpersonal context (e.g., family members, friends, and boyfriend/girlfriend) to recognize anger problems. Methods: We recruited 192 individuals with high trait anger who completed questionnaires about 1) recognition of anger problems, 2) how they are perceived by others in terms of anger (i.e., “being irascible”), and 3) if they care about what others think about their anger. Research Design: Cross-sectional. Results: Individuals who recognized their anger problems perceived they have received more messages of “You are very irascible” from their social contexts, while those who do not recognize anger problems, have received these messages less often. Moreover, the higher the extent to which the individuals care about what other people think or say about their anger (i.e., higher importance attached to messages from others), the more it contributed to a higher recognition of anger problems. In addition, a lower importance attached to such messages was related to a lower recognition of such problems. Recognition of anger problems was higher in participants who had a boyfriend/girlfriend (versus those who did not have one), and in female (versus male) participants.

Neural activity during the viewing of emotional pictures in veterans with pathological anger and aggression

Anger and aggression are common mental health problems after military deployment. Anger and aggression have been associated with abnormalities in subcortical and cortical levels of the brain and their connectivity. Here, we tested brain activation during the processing of emotional stimuli in military veterans with and without anger and aggression problems. Thirty military veterans with anger and aggression problems and 29 veterans without a psychiatric diagnosis (all males) participated in this study. During an fMRI scan 32 negative, 32 positive and 32 neutral pictures from the International Affective Picture System were presented in intermixed order. The Aggression group showed heightened activity in brain areas including the supplementary motor area, the cingulum and the parietal cortex, in response to stimuli, regardless of category. Furthermore, the Aggression group showed stronger connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the amygdala during the viewing of negative stimuli, and weaker connectivity between dACC and medial prefrontal cortex during the viewing of positive stimuli. Veterans with anger and aggression problems showed enhanced brain response to all stimuli during the task, irrespective of valence and they rated the pictures more likely as negative. We take this to indicate enhanced preparation for action and attention to the presentation of stimuli that could prove to be threatening. Further, group differences in functional connectivity involving the dACC reveal abnormal processing of stimuli with negative and positive valence. In sum, the results point towards a bias towards an enhanced sensitivity to perceived or potential threat in aggression.

The Forensic Symptoms Inventory-Revised (FSI-R Adults): Measurement and Structural Invariance Across Gender and Age Groups.

This article investigates the measurement and structural invariance of a newly developed self-report questionnaire, the Forensic Symptoms Inventory-Revised, aimed at measuring eight cognitive, emotional, and behavioral deficits (aggression, lack of social support, problematic substance use, lack of concentration, anger, poor self-regulation, impulsivity, and sexual problems) among adult forensic outpatients. The sample consisted of 716 outpatients (603 males, 113 females) with a mean age of 38.19 (SD = 12.47). Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analyses supported the measurement and structural invariance with respect to gender and age groups (18-23 years and ≥24 years). Between-group comparisons revealed that, compared to females, male outpatients reported more substance related problems, as well as incapacities to control verbal and/or physical aggression. Compared to adults, young adults displayed more inadequate self-regulation skills and reported more social support. These findings may promote the formulation of gender- and age-specific treatment goals.

Anger Self-Management Training for Chronic Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

To test efficacy of 8-session, 1:1 treatment, anger self-management training (ASMT), for chronic moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Three US outpatient treatment facilities. Ninety people with TBI and elevated self-reported anger; 76 significant others (SOs) provided collateral data. Multicenter randomized controlled trial with 2:1 randomization to ASMT or structurally equivalent comparison treatment, personal readjustment and education (PRE). Primary outcome assessment 1 week posttreatment; 8-week follow-up. Response to treatment defined as 1 or more standard deviation change in self-reported anger. SO-rated anger, emotional and behavioral status, satisfaction with life, timing of treatment response, participant and SO-rated global change, and treatment satisfaction. State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-Revised Trait Anger (TA) and Anger Expression-Out (AX-O) subscales; Brief Anger-Aggression Questionnaire (BAAQ); Likert-type ratings of treatment satisfaction, global changes in anger and well-being. After treatment, ASMT response rate (68%) exceeded that of PRE (47%) on TA but not AX-O or BAAQ; this finding persisted at 8-week follow-up. No significant between-group differences in SO-reported response rates, emotional/behavioral status, or life satisfaction. ASMT participants were more satisfied with treatment and rated global change in anger as significantly better; SO ratings of global change in both anger and well-being were superior for ASMT. ASMT was efficacious and persistent for some aspects of problematic anger. More research is needed to determine optimal dose and essential ingredients of behavioral treatment for anger after TBI.

Integrating intimate partner violence and parenting intervention into residential substance use disorder treatment for fathers

Despite positive outcomes for the incorporation of gender- and motherhood-focused programing within substance use disorder treatment programs for women, a focus on gender and fatherhood has not been the focus of intervention or evaluation research for men in substance use disorder treatment. This was a mixed method study to examine the initial feasibility of incorporating a fatherhood-focused intervention within a substance use disorder treatment program for men. Forty-four fathers enrolled in a coordinated intervention for intimate partner violence and parenting. Interviews were conducted at baseline and follow-up to assess the impact of the intervention on anger, hostile thinking and emotion regulation problems. Focus groups were also conducted with the participants to gain further insight into their needs as fathers and their recommendations for interventions that they would find helpful. Results indicated a high prevalence of anger related thoughts at baseline that significantly decreased at follow up; there were also significant reductions in affect regulation problems. Importantly, 84.1% of participants completed the program in its entirety and were highly satisfied with the content. These findings suggest that Fathers for Change can be implemented, successfully, in a men's residential treatment program.

Factors Effecting Anger Expression Styles and Problem Solving Skills of High School Age Male Adolescents in the Aegean Region of Turkey

Factors Effecting Anger Expression Styles and Problem Solving Skills of High School Age Male Adolescents in the Aegean Region of Turkey

The Protective Role of Friends in the Link between Daily Cyber Victimization and Adjustment Problems among Predominately Latino Adolescents.

The current study examined whether friendship factors, including time spent with friends and perceived friendship quality, moderate daily associations between cyber victimization and adolescent adjustment (i.e., distress, anger, attendance problems, perceived school safety). The study focuses on the experiences of predominately Latino youth, as they remain an understudied group in cyber victimization research. Participants included 136 high school students (88% Latino) who completed daily checklists across five consecutive school days. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that time spent with friends moderated the associations between cyber victimization with distress, anger and attendance problems. For example, on days that adolescents did not spend time with their friends, there was a significant link between cyber victimization and feelings of anger. For adolescents who did spend time with their friends during the day, this association did not exist. Friendship quality only buffered the negative association between daily cyber victimization and feelings of distress.

Proximity alert! Distance related cuneus activation in military veterans with anger and aggression problems

Problems involving anger and aggression are common after military deployment, and may involve abnormal responses to threat. This study therefore investigated effects on neural activation related to threat and escapability among veterans with deployment experience. Twenty-seven male veterans with anger and aggression problems (Anger group) and 30 Control veterans performed a virtual predator-task during fMRI measurement. In this task, threat and proximity were manipulated. The distance of cues determined their possibility for escape. Cues signaled impending attack by zooming in towards the participant. If Threat cues, but not Safe cues, reached the participants without being halted by a button press, an aversive noise (105dB scream) was presented. In both the Threat and the Safe condition, closer proximity of the virtual predator resulted in stronger activation in the cuneus in the Anger versus Control group. The results suggest that anger and aggression problems are related to a generalized sensitivity to proximity rather than preparatory processes related to task-contingent aversive stimuli. Anger and aggression problems in natural, dynamically changing environments may be related to an overall heightened vigilance, which is non-adaptively driven by proximity.

Negative Attribution Bias and Anger After Traumatic Brain Injury

Negative attributions pertain to judgments of intent, hostility, and blame regarding others' behaviors. This study compared negative attributions made by people with and without traumatic brain injury (TBI) and examined the degree to which these negative attributions predicted angry ratings in response to situations. Outpatient rehabilitation hospital. Forty-six adults with moderate to severe TBI and 49 healthy controls. Cross-sectional study using a quasi-experimental research design. In response to hypothetical scenarios, participants rated how irritated and angry they would be, and how intentional, hostile, and blameworthy they perceived characters' behaviors. There were 3 scenario types differentiated by the portrayal of characters' actions: benign, ambiguous, or hostile. All scenarios theoretically resulted in unpleasant outcomes for participants. Participants with TBI had significantly higher ratings for feeling "irritated" and "angry" and attributions of "intent," "hostility," and "blame" compared with healthy controls for all scenario types. Negative attribution ratings accounted for 72.4% and 65.3% of the anger rating variance for participants with and without TBI, respectively. People with TBI may have negative attribution bias, in which they disproportionately judge the intent, hostility, and blameworthiness of others' behaviors. These attributions contributed to their ratings of feeling angry. This suggests that participants with TBI who have anger problems should be evaluated for this bias, and anger treatments should possibly aim to alter negative attributions. However, before implementing clinical practice changes, there is a need for replication with larger samples, and further investigation of the characteristics associated with negative attribution bias.

Bullying and the detrimental role of un-forgiveness in adolescents' wellbeing.

Many studies have shown that victimisation by bullies is linked with psychopathology. Research has also demonstrated that forgiveness is associated with the mental health of victims of bullying. Our objective was to explore the multiple components of forgiveness (i.e., benevolence, decreased avoidance of the perpetrator and diminished desire for revenge) as mediators of the negative mental health effects of bullying in Italian adolescents. Our hypothesis was that those who forgive their bullies would show lower levels of depression, state anger, and behaviour problems than those who did not forgive. Participants were 319 students ages 14 to 22 from two schools in Southern Italy who completed five self-report questionnaires measuring levels of victimisation, forgiveness, depression, anger, and total behaviour problems. The results varied according to the components of forgiveness: although benevolence toward the victim was not a significant correlate of outcome, harbouring a desire for revenge and avoiding the perpetrator emerged as very maladaptive. Our study indicates that is it important for those working with adolescents to help victims of bullying overcome the negative mental health effects of the victimisation by letting go of un-forgiveness.

Pain and multiple facets of anger and hostility in a sample seeking treatment for problematic anger

A number of studies have reported associations between pain and anger in samples with chronic pain, but research has mostly overlooked associations between pain and anger in those with problematic anger. The present study explored associations between pain severity and a variety of anger and hostility constructs in a sample seeking anger treatment (n =131). Zero-order correlations and partial correlations were used to examine associations between pain, anger, and hostility, controlling for depressive symptoms. Hierarchical regression models examined potential interaction effects of gender on associations between pain and these outcomes. Pain severity was positively associated with trait anger, outward anger expression, hostile interpretation bias, hostile ideation, and inability to forgive others. These associations were independent of co-occurring depressive symptoms, with some exceptions. Gender moderated the association between pain and hostile ideation such that pain was positively associated with hostile ideation in women but not men. Pain severity was uniquely associated with multiple outcomes of relevance to individuals undergoing treatment for problematic anger. Clinical implications will be discussed.

Mind your anger habits: For teen (group CBT for teens with anger behavioral problems)

Problematic anger behaviors of children and adolescents represent a significant challenge to the clinical community. Although a number of direct and indirect factors are theorized to contribute to the etiology of aggressive behavioral problems, the cognitive-behavioral model focuses on the cognitive processes that play a significant role in the generation of anger and the aggressive responses to provocation. “Mind your anger habits: for teen” manual, is based on the cognitive-behavioral conceptualization of anger and anger management problems functions, it consists of 10 group sessions for teens and 8 group sessions for their parents.In the “Mind your anger habits: for teen”; anger is identified as a stress reaction with three response components: cognitive, physiological, and behavioral. The cognitive component is characterized by one's perception of social stimuli and provocation cues in the social context, by one's interpretation of these stimuli, by one's attributions concerning causality and/or responsibility, and by one's evaluation of oneself and the situation. This component represents a significant area for intervention with aggressive adolescents as their perceptions and attitudes serve to prompt most behavioral responses to provocation. Research on the social and cognitive processing in aggressive youth indicates that distorted interpretations, attributional biases, and deficiencies in problem solving can all influence the selection of aggressive behavior responses. Furthermore, cognitive processing patterns are likely to become more rigid over time, and as such the maladaptive aggressive behaviors prompted by dysfunctional cognitions will be maintained.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Intellectual disability in a prison population with anger problems in Trinidad

This paper describes the characteristics of groups of prisoners selected to take part in an anger management programme in prisons in Trinidad. Participants completed demographic measures, an IQ assessment, mental health measures and anger rating scales. Fifty-six inmates were screened with the WASI-2 and characteristics of this group are explored in this paper. The mean IQ for the group was 72.34 and 22 had a recorded IQ below 70 (37.5%). All of the respondents reported high levels of mental health problems with their mean ratings on the SCL-90 being closer to those of inpatient psychiatric group norms than non-clinical groups. A score of less than 70 on the WASI-2 is not sufficient for a diagnosis of an Intellectual Disability. Nevertheless, the results suggest that a significant number of individuals in these prisons may have an Intellectual Disability. More research is needed to help identify these individuals and provide support.