Anger-reduction treatment reduces negative affect reactivity to daily stressors

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Negative affect (NA) reactivity to daily stressors may increase health risks, particularly in chronically angry individuals.
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a potential intervention for managing anger and its associated health consequences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test if a 12-week CBT anger-reduction treatment decreases NA reactivity to daily stressors.
• To compare changes in NA reactivity in a CBT treatment group versus a wait-list control group.

Main Methods:

• 158 healthy adults with high trait anger were randomized to CBT or a wait-list control.
• Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) measured NA intensity and stress events before and after the 12-week intervention.
• A longitudinal model examined changes in stressor exposure and NA reactions.

Main Results:

• A significant interaction showed NA reactivity decreased more in the CBT group than the wait-list group (379.38% greater change).
• NA during stressors decreased by 28.42% for the CBT group by EMA Day 2.
• NA during stressors nonsignificantly increased in the wait-list group.

Conclusions:

• CBT for chronic anger is linked to reduced NA reactivity to daily stressors.
• This anger management approach may be effective in reducing the health impact of stress in this population.