Individual differences in anger and displaced aggression: The role of metacognitive beliefs and anger rumination

Metacognitive model is a theoretical approach aimed to explain emotion dysregulation and others emotion-related issues, such anger, and aggressive behavior. From this model, people having higher maladaptive metacognitive beliefs (e.g., “I can't control my thoughts”) are more likely to activate and maintain anger rumination and, in turn, to experience higher levels of anger and to act aggressively. Preliminary evidence shows the role of metacognitive beliefs on anger rumination and anger levels, whereas no studies have examined its association with aggressive behavior. This study first examined the associations between metacognitive beliefs, anger rumination, anger levels, and the propensity to engage in displaced aggression, and second, the mediation role of anger rumination in the relations among metacognitive beliefs and anger and displaced aggression. Participants were 947 students and non-students from general population recruited in two different countries (Australia and Spain). Correlational analyses revealed a similar pattern of results in the Australian and Spanish sample, with participants having dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs also showing higher anger rumination, higher levels of anger and a higher tendency to act aggressively. Structural equation analyses revealed the associations of metacognitive beliefs with anger levels and displaced aggression was fully mediated by anger rumination in both samples. These results suggest that metacognitive beliefs should be considered in comprehensive models and in the therapy of anger problems and aggression.     

A follow-up program for suicide attempters: evaluation of effectiveness.

Suicide attempters are a high-risk group in relation to ultimately completing suicide and are usually "treated and released" with little or no follow-up care. A 4-month follow-up outreach program for suicide attempters seen in the emergency room was developed with an emphasis on continuity and quantity of "treatment" received. Suicide attempters were randomly assigned to the "follow-up outreach" or "normal" treatment programs. Measures for the evaluation of effectiveness were (a) incidence of suicide reattempts and purposive accidents and (b) prevalence of drug misuse and excessive use of alcohol. The experimental group showed a statistically significant reduction in suicide reattempts and excessive use of alcohol, while the reduction of drug abuse, although not statistically significant, did conform to a trend indicating improvement. Purposive accidents occured at a relatively equal rate among both groups.     

Understanding treatment effectiveness for aggressive youth: the importance of regulation in mother-child interactions

Reviews summarizing hundreds of studies cite parent management training (PMT) and cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) as some of the most effective interventions for aggressive youth. However, studies continue to report variability in outcomes, and researchers have yet to understand why certain interventions only produce behavior change in some children. Using a clinical sample of 57 children (53 boys, 4 girls; mean age = 9.33, standard deviation = 1.16) and their mothers enrolled in a combined PMT/CBT program, the current study examined the relation between changes in real-time mother-child interactions, and children's externalizing outcomes from pre- to posttreatment. Results showed that dyads who were regulated in their interactions over time reported greater reductions in externalizing symptoms from pre- to posttreatment as compared with dysregulated dyads. Changes in mean levels of affective content (e.g., negativity) were not associated with externalizing outcomes. Findings suggest that dyadic regulation may be an important process associated with treatment success for aggressive youth.     

The importance of gender and affect in the socialization of adolescents' beliefs about benevolent authority: Evidence from Chinese indigenous psychology

Belief in the benevolence and moral legitimacy of leaders in central government is theorized as a form of cultural capital consistent with the hierarchical relationalism of East Asian societies with Confucian roots. A reliable measure of benevolent authority beliefs (BAB) is introduced, and its convergent and discriminant validity relative to established measures of institutional trust are established. Its socialization as part of the political culture of Taiwan was examined among high school adolescents aged 13–16. Significant gender differences were found inconsistent with traditional patriarchy. Regression analyses showed that within the relationship with mothers but not fathers, adolescents associated higher reciprocal filial piety, authoritative parenting, and authentic (positive) affect with higher BAB. For daughters but not sons, reciprocal filial piety, authoritative parenting style, and authentic (positive) affect in the relationship with their father were positively associated with BAB. Affect‐based transfer from parent‐child relationships rather than authoritarian obligations based on rote learning was a key socializing factor in a contemporary Chinese society.     

The psychological treatment of tinnitus: An experimental evaluation

Disabling tinnitus in 27 patients was treated in an experimental setting with two different types of therapy aiming at the development of coping behaviour. One was focused on behavioural control procedures, while the other aimed at more cognitive control methods such as distraction. The results of the two forms of therapy were compared with each other and with observations of the untreated control subjects. Assessments of subjective loudness, discomfort from tinnitus and controllability were made on analogue scales and at a questionnaire follow-up. Psychoacoustic measures such as personal loudness units (PLU) were used in connection with these self-recordings and for evaluation of treatment effects. The results confirmed favourable reports on behavioural methods in tinnitus. However, no differences were found between therapies. The results are discussed in the light of the coping and adaptation theory.     

Reducing playground bullying and supporting beliefs: an experimental trial of the steps to respect program

Six schools were randomly assigned to a multilevel bullying intervention or a control condition. Children in Grades 3-6 (N=1,023) completed pre- and posttest surveys of behaviors and beliefs and were rated by teachers. Observers coded playground behavior of a random subsample (n=544). Hierarchical analyses of changes in playground behavior revealed declines in bullying and argumentative behavior among intervention-group children relative to control-group children, increases in agreeable interactions, and a trend toward reduced destructive bystander behavior. Those in the intervention group reported enhanced bystander responsibility, greater perceived adult responsiveness, and less acceptance of bullying/aggression than those in the control group. Self-reported aggression did not differ between the groups. Implications for future research on the development and prevention of bullying are discussed.     

Exploring the perceived effectiveness of a life skills development program for high-performance athletes

The purpose of this study was to explore attitudes towards, experiences of, and perceived effectiveness of a life-skills programme for high-performance young athletes from multiple perspectives, including the athletes, coaches, parents, programme facilitators, and sport administrators. Six focus groups were conducted with 54 high-performance athletes from six sports: squash, softball, baseball, netball, triathlon, and surfing. Three focus groups were conducted with parents (n = 8) of athletes and a further eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with coaches (n = 4) and lead facilitators (n = 4) of the life-skills programme. Four semi-structured interviews were also held with representatives from State Sporting Associations (SSAs) from the sports involved. Thematic content analysis revealed seven main themes: achieving balance and managing stress, time management, goal setting, confidence and control, information overload and repetition, credible role-models, coach reinforcement and follow-up. The programme was perceived to be moderately successful in developing adaptive behaviours and motives including better engagement in training and in adopting time management and planning skills in contexts outside of sport such as homework and academic study. The programme also fostered the development of skills, attitudes, and motives important for sport success such as goal setting and having confidence to succeed. To improve the effectiveness of such programmes, more emphasis should be placed on the practice of, and engagement with, applied techniques to develop skills with less emphasis on information giving and theory. Facilitators of programmes should also be more pro-active in involving parents and coaches as a way to improve continuity and provide post-program reinforcement and support.     

The long-term evaluation of a behavioral treatment program for child molesters

Recidivism data derived from various sources over a follow-up period of 1–11 yr, provided the basis for appraising the effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment program for familial and nonfamilial child molesters. Unofficial records held by police and Children's Aid Societies proved to be the best data for estimating recidivism. These data revealed increases in recidivism with longer follow-up periods, but there were consistent advantages for the treated over the untreated patients. Men who had sexually abused the daughters of other people demonstrated the clearest treatment benefits. The younger offenders and those who had engaged in genital-genital contact with their victims were more likely to reoffend even if they were treated. Contrary to the expectations of behavior therapists, indices of deviant sexual preferences did not predict outcome.     

The development and psychometric evaluation of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale

This article introduces the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS), a 4-item measure designed to capture tendencies to cope with stress in a highly adaptive manner. Two samples of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (ns = 90 and 140) provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the BRCS. The BRCS has adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Convergent validity of the scale is demonstrated by predictable correlations with measures of personal coping resources (e.g., optimism, helplessness, self-efficacy), pain coping behaviors, and psychological well-being. Resilient coping, as assessed by the BRCS, also buffers the effects of high levels of arthritis-related and non-arthritis-related stressors on depressive symptoms. The sensitivity of the BRCS to changes associated with a cognitive-behavioral intervention is also demonstrated. The BCRS may be useful for identifying individuals in need of interventions designed to enhance resilient coping skills.     

The effectiveness of mentoring programs in corporate settings: A meta-analytical review of the literature

Many studies over the last 20-25 years have examined the benefits of mentoring for the protégé and the organization. A review of these studies being published revealed that there is not only a lack of studies utilizing or reporting comparison group information but also a general lack of experimental research about mentoring. This quantitative meta-analytic review provides a critical analysis of the effectiveness of mentoring, with an emphasis on research designs that compared career outcomes of mentored individuals to non-mentored individuals. The overall mean effect size of mentoring was significant, indicating that mentoring does improve career outcomes for individuals. Individual career outcomes were analyzed and reported. Informal mentoring produced a larger and more significant effect on career outcomes than formal mentoring. There is a need for more research comparing protégés and non-protégés to determine if it is the receipt of mentoring or individual characteristics that leads to career success.     

The development and evaluation of a community mental health education program for seminarians

American Journal of Community Psychology -     

Organizational control and treatment program design as dimensions of institutionalization in settings for juvenile offenders

The relationship between organizational control and normalization in treatment program design was examined in 30 community-based settings for juvenile offenders. Although these two dimensions were hypothesized to be converging indicators of the institutionality of a setting, the findings indicated that they are only marginally related. More hierarchical models of decision making were not associated with more depersonalized, isolating programming, and involvement of residents and line staff in decision making did not covary with autonomy and personalization in programming. The results are discussed as evidence that institutionality is a multidimensional construct, and that future investigations must distinguish between organizational decision making and characteristics of treatment program design when assessing the institutional quality of residential service settings.     

The flexibility of context-specific control: Evidence for context-driven generalization of item-specific control settings

In two experiments we address an ongoing debate concerning the processes driving context-driven modulations to the Stroop effect (Crump, Gong, & Milliken, 2006). In particular, we demonstrate that context-driven processes can modulate the size of the Stroop effect for frequency-unbiased item types. We also clarify the role of item frequency in producing context-driven modulations to the Stroop effect. Taken together, our results provide unambiguous support for the claim that contextual processing can impart fast and flexible control over the operation of selective attention processes during online performance.     

Women's reactions to ingroup members who protest discriminatory treatment: The importance of beliefs about inequality and response appropriateness

Our goal was to identify factors that shape women's responses to ingroup members who protest gender discrimination. We predicted and found that women who perceived gender discrimination as pervasive regarded a protest response as being more appropriate than a no protest response and expressed greater liking and less anger towards a female lawyer who protested rather than did not protest an unfair promotion decision. Further, beliefs about the appropriateness of the response to discrimination contributed to evaluations of the protesting lawyer. Perceptions that the complaint was an appropriate response to the promotion decision led to more positive evaluations of an ingroup discrimination protester. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Driving anger in Germany: Validation of the driving anger scale for German drivers

In 1994, Deffenbacher et al. published the Driving Anger Scale (DAS), a tool for assessing a driver’s propensity to experience anger in road traffic. Since then, much research has used this scale to measure the driving anger experienced in various countries around the world. This study examines the scale’s validity for German drivers. It also relates their experiences of anger while driving to their experiences and expressions of anger in general, as well as to certain demographic variables. In addition, it compares German drivers’ experiences of driving anger to those reported by drivers from other countries. We distributed a German version of the DAS and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) to a sample of 1136 German drivers. Results showed that a 22-items version of the DAS with six factors produced good fit indices for German drivers. Furthermore, data analysis revealed small to moderate significant relationships between German drivers’ driving anger experiences and their experiences and expressions of anger in general, underlining the idea that driving anger is a personality characteristic that is related to one's general experience and expression of anger. Finally, German drivers' driving anger experiences differed from those of drivers from other countries in that German drivers reported less driving anger than drivers from Spain and New Zealand, comparable levels to those from Turkey, Malaysia, and the United States, and more driving anger than drivers from France, Australia, China, and the United Kingdom. In addition, discourteous driver actions and hostile gestures consistently triggered highest driving anger ratings whereas police presence was rated lowest. Given these results, we conclude that the DAS can be applied to German drivers in its modified version.