Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA in Clinical Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Raymond DiGiuseppe

Second Advisor

Melissa Peckins

Abstract

Although we see patients present to outpatient and inpatient settings with problematic anger as frequently as with anxiety and depression (Lachmund et al., 2005), we lack the diagnostic categories for anger that most affective disturbances have been granted by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5: American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Anger is, instead, most often seen as an aspect of the pathology within a wide range of mood and personality disorders. DiGiuseppe and Tafrate (2007) proposed 13 subtypes of disturbed anger via a hierarchical cluster analysis of the Anger Disorders Scale (ADS) standardization data. While more recent attempts to verify these subtypes in adult and adolescent populations have generally supported the independence of aggressive behaviors from the affective experience of anger, they have been inconclusive about additional differences within these categories. This study aimed to clarify these subtypes using latent profile analysis of a sample of 1170 individuals meeting the criteria for dysfunctional anger. Results support an eight-profile solution with subtypes fitting into four categories: (1) Persistent Mild Anger Pathology, (2) Anger-Regulation Expression Disorder, Primarily Expressive Type (3) ARED, Combined Type, and (4) Situational Anger. Results of the models are compared and discussed in the context of existing literature and considering potential clinical implications for individuals with dysfunctional anger.

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