Inside the anger: development and validation of a new questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Emotional Health
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Anger is a complex emotion with maladaptive manifestations that require further exploration.
• Existing anger assessment tools may not fully capture the nuances of anger experience.
• A novel perspective is needed to evaluate anger, considering individual perceptions of self and environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate a novel anger questionnaire, the Inside the Anger (InAn) scale.
• To assess anger by incorporating individual perceptions of self and environment.
• To identify aspects of anger experience not fully encompassed by current evaluation tools.

Main Methods:

• The InAn questionnaire was administered to 471 participants (438 from Brescia municipality, 33 from Bollate prison).
• Data were collected using the InAn, STAXI-2, and ANPS 3.1 scales.
• Statistical analyses included Cronbach's alpha, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Stata 18.

Main Results:

• The InAn questionnaire comprises 29 items on a 4-point Likert scale.
• EFA identified five factors accounting for 92.7% of the variance, including 'Ineffective arousal management' and 'Feelings of the self that disturb one's healthy affirmation'.
• The overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.876, indicating strong internal consistency; factor alphas ranged from 0.6524 to 0.8103.

Conclusions:

• The InAn questionnaire provides a novel method for assessing anger.
• It aims to elucidate foundational developmental aspects and processes contributing to anger.
• This tool may benefit individuals with anger management issues and practitioners in the field.