The Effects Of Anger Management Groups In A Day School For Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents - Statistical Data Included

Adolescence, Winter, 1999 by Millicent H. Kellner, Brenna H. Bry

Three students were not on medication, including one for whom medication was recommended but who chose not to comply. One student was prescribed Trilafon, another Depakote. Two were prescribed both Haldol and Cogentin (along with either Prozac or clonidine).

Anger Management Program

Sessions were held weekly for ten weeks, and each session lasted thirty minutes. Two licensed clinical social workers, one male and one female, led the groups. The initial sessions set forth the psychoeducational concepts that are the foundation of the program (Feindler & Ecton, 1986; Goldstein & Glick, 1987; Kellner & Tutin, 1995). Thus, students were educated about the physiology of anger and were encouraged to identify the bodily signs of anger arousal. They were taught about "triggers" and were invited to reflect on the situations that caused them to become angry. They were introduced to the prosocial criteria for evaluating how they managed their anger (i.e., angry feelings are well-managed if violence and consequent punishment are avoided). Finally, group members were asked to provide examples of ways they handled anger and to determine the degree to which these behaviors met the prosocial criteria. Emphasis was placed on helping the adolescents understand that anger is a normal feeling that must be de alt with in an acceptable manner. In order to provide a bridge between the group experience and everyday life, they were encouraged to fill out daily anger logs in which they noted: (1) each anger-provoking incident, (2) the setting associated with the incident, (3) how the incident was handled, (4) the degree of anger, and (5) how well anger was managed.

Efforts were made to help students link the psychoeducational concepts to the techniques of anger management. For example, during discussions about the physiology of anger, students were shown relaxation, deep-breathing, and counting exercises. Analysis of cognitions that accompany angry emotions afforded the opportunity to teach the students how to substitute calming thoughts for those that prolong or intensify arousal. Moreover, anger-provoking incidents that had occurred between group meetings were analyzed using role-play. This enabled students to practice and receive praise for utilizing prosocial strategies. Self-evaluation was encouraged in an effort to help them internalize the prosocial criteria for anger management. Finally, in order to discourage oppositional behavior, students were given the opportunity to take turns being group leader. In addition to helping reduce disruptive acts, this leadership role enabled them to demonstrate their understanding of the principles of anger management, reinfor ced learning, and aided in the development of positive social skills and self-esteem. At the end of the program, each student was given a certificate of completion during a special group ceremony.

Dependent Variables

Three measures of student behavior were used. First, one week before the program began and one month after the program ended, teachers were asked to rate student behavior using the Conduct subscale of the Conners Teacher Rating Scale (Conners, 1989). This standardized instrument was selected because of its established validity in measuring conduct problems in children. It was hypothesized that after participation in the anger management group, students would receive improved conduct scores from their teachers.