Maladaptive Anger Treatment

NCT06275607 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: FY23-24-93
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

From a psychoevolutionary perspective, anger is a universal emotion that can serve the function of making us aware of wrongdoing and motivating us to undo/correct the wrongdoing. However, it is well recognized in clinical psychology that anger can be maladaptive, often causing distress and impairment in various areas of day-to-day life; untreated maladaptive anger has been found to raise the risk of certain physical health problems e.g., hypertension and coronary heart disease. At the very extreme, rage has been implicated in aggression and violence. Not surprisingly, there has been a widespread quest for anger treatments or what is popularly called "anger management". One treatment approach that has received increasing empirical support is Cognitive Behavioral Affective Therapy (CBAT), which has been applied to patients with chemical dependence and individuals with chronic pain. To extend this programmatic line of research, the proposed research aims to evaluate the efficacy of CBAT in reducing multiple (psychometric and self-monitored) measures of anger within a community sample.

Conditions

Anger; Intermittent Explosive Disorder; Emotional Distress; Aggression; Violence

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (8)

• Anger Parameters Scale (APS)

  The Anger Parameters Scale taps into five parameters: Frequency, Duration, Intensity, Latency, and Threshold. Scores can range from 0-120 and higher scores imply more maladaptive anger. The APS is comprised of 30 items rated from 0-4. The total possible score ranges from 0 to 120. A higher score on the APS indicates more maladaptive anger.

  Baseline

• Anger Parameters Scale (APS)

  The Anger Parameters Scale taps into five parameters: Frequency, Duration, Intensity, Latency, and Threshold. Scores can range from 0-120 and higher scores imply more maladaptive anger. The APS is comprised of 30 items rated from 0-4. The total possible score ranges from 0 to 120. A higher score on the APS indicates more maladaptive anger.

  One-month

• Anger Parameters Scale (APS)

  The Anger Parameters Scale taps into five parameters: Frequency, Duration, Intensity, Latency, and Threshold. Scores can range from 0-120 and higher scores imply more maladaptive anger. The APS is comprised of 30 items rated from 0-4. The total possible score ranges from 0 to 120. A higher score on the APS indicates more maladaptive anger.

  One month after end of treatment program

• Anger Expressions Scale (AES)

  Measured with the Anger Expressions Scale. The AES is comprised of 60 items rated from 0-4. These items are organized into 12 sub-scales of 5 items each. These sub-scales have a minimum total possible score of 0 and a maximum of 20. Higher scores on each sub-scale (as well as a higher cumulative score) indicates more maladaptive anger.

  Baseline

• Anger Expressions Scale (AES)

  Measured with the Anger Expressions Scale. The AES is comprised of 60 items rated from 0-4. These items are organized into 12 sub-scales of 5 items each. These sub-scales have a minimum total possible score of 0 and a maximum of 20. Higher scores on each sub-scale (as well as a higher cumulative score) indicates more maladaptive anger.

  One-month

• Anger Expressions Scale (AES)

  Measured with the Anger Expressions Scale. The AES is comprised of 60 items rated from 0-4. These items are organized into 12 sub-scales of 5 items each. These sub-scales have a minimum total possible score of 0 and a maximum of 20. Higher scores on each sub-scale (as well as a higher cumulative score) indicates more maladaptive anger.

  One month after end of treatment program

• Self-Monitored Anger (Anger Log)

  Self-monitoring has been successfully implemented for the assessment of anger . The anger log comprises two graphs that range from 12:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM, covering a 24-hour period. More specifically, the x-axis represents the time of day, and the y-axis represents the severity of anger. The scale ranges in severity and is broken down into levels: anger, annoyance, and rage.

  Baseline up to 4 weeks

• Self-Monitored Anger (Anger Log)

  Self-monitoring has been successfully implemented for the assessment of anger . The anger log comprises two graphs that range from 12:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM, covering a 24-hour period. More specifically, the x-axis represents the time of day, and the y-axis represents the severity of anger. The scale ranges in severity and is broken down into levels: anger, annoyance, and rage.

  One week after the interim period

Study Arms (2)

Cognitive Behavioral Affective Therapy

EXPERIMENTAL

Group receiving CBAT.

Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Affective Therapy

Emotional Education

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Group receiving general emotion psychoeducation.

Behavioral: Emotional Discussion

Interventions

Cognitive Behavioral Affective Therapy BEHAVIORAL

Active training in regulating anger.

Cognitive Behavioral Affective Therapy

Emotional Discussion BEHAVIORAL

General discussion of emotions; no therapy or training is offered.

Emotional Education

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Live in the United States
• Have maladaptive anger (as assessed by the STAXI-2)
• Do not currently have any serious psychiatric illnesses (e.g., schizophrenia, autism, dementia, suicidal ideation)
• Are not currently undergoing psychological or psychiatric treatment
• Are not currently undergoing an anger treatment program
• Speak English

You may not qualify if:

• Does not live in the United States
• Does not have maladaptive anger, as assessed by the STAXI-2
• Has a current serious psychiatric illness (e.g., schizophrenia, autism, dementia, suicidal ideation)
• Is currently undergoing psychological or psychiatric treatment
• Is currently undergoing an anger treatment program
• Does not speak English

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Texas at San Antonio: lead

Study Sites (1)

The University of Texas at San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas, 78249, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (9)

• Fernandez, E. (2008). The angry personality: A representation on six dimensions of anger expression. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849200479

  BACKGROUND

• Fernandez, E., Arevalo, I., Torralba A., & Vargas, R. (2014). Norms for Five Parameters of Anger: How Do Incarcerated Adults Differ From the Community?. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health. 13. 18-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14999013.2014.889256

  BACKGROUND

• Fernandez, E. & Beck, R. (2001). Cognitive-Behavioral Self-Intervention Versus SelfMonitoring of Anger: Effects on Anger Frequency, Duration, and Intensity. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 29(3). 345-356. http://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465801003071

  BACKGROUND

• Fernandez E, Pham TM, Kolaparthi K, Sun R, Perez BS, Iwuala EC, Wu W, Shattuck EC. Parameters of anger as related to sensory-affective components of pain. Scand J Pain. 2022 Dec 9;23(2):284-290. doi: 10.1515/sjpain-2022-0131. Print 2023 Apr 25.

  PMID: 36490215 BACKGROUND

• Fernandez E, Perez B, Sun R, Kolaparthi K, Pham T, Iwuala E, Garza R, Shattuck EC, Wu W. Anger treatment via CBAT delivered remotely: Outcomes on psychometric and self-monitored measures of anger. Clin Psychol Psychother. 2023 Sep 12. doi: 10.1002/cpp.2907. Online ahead of print.

  PMID: 37699599 BACKGROUND

• Fernandez E, Scott S. Anger treatment in chemically-dependent inpatients: evaluation of phase effects and gender. Behav Cogn Psychother. 2009 Jul;37(4):431-47. doi: 10.1017/S1352465809990075. Epub 2009 Jun 23.

  PMID: 19545479 BACKGROUND

• Fernandez E, Woldgabreal Y, Guharajan D, Day A, Kiageri V, Ramtahal N. Social Desirability Bias Against Admitting Anger: Bias in the Test-Taker or Bias in the Test? J Pers Assess. 2019 Nov-Dec;101(6):644-652. doi: 10.1080/00223891.2018.1464017. Epub 2018 May 9.

  PMID: 29741402 BACKGROUND

• Henderson, M. M. (2016). The anger parameters scale and the anger expressions scale: A psychometric study. The University of Texas at San Antonio.

  BACKGROUND

• Spielberger, C. D., Sydeman, S. J., Owen, A. E., & Marsh, B. J. (1999). Measuring anxiety and anger with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI). In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment (2nd ed., pp. 993-1021). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders; Aggression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders; Aberrant Motor Behavior in Dementia; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Social Behavior

Central Study Contacts

Ephrem Fernandez, Ph.D.

CONTACT

(210) 458-5755; ephrem.fernandez@utsa.edu

Brandon S Perez, M.S.

CONTACT

(281) 975-9534; brandon.perez3@utsa.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Parallel Assignment

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 7, 2024
• First Posted: February 23, 2024
• Study Start: February 7, 2024
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2025
• Study Completion: December 31, 2025
• Last Updated: February 23, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)