ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1061-5407

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Psychology (Ph.D.)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Raymond DiGiuseppe

Second Advisor

William Chaplin

Third Advisor

Imad Zaheer

Abstract

The emotion concept of "self-anger" is ill-defined and under-researched. While self-anger bears similarities to traditional anger ("other-anger"), it also retains features of shame and guilt. In addition, self-anger shares ruminative qualities and self-condemning thoughts with depression. As a result, self-anger can become maladaptive at persistent and unhealthy levels. Furthermore, individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be at an increased risk for dysfunctional self-anger, considering their proneness to increased anger and depressive tendencies compared to non-ADHD counterparts. However, the relationship between ADHD and self-anger has not yet been explored in the literature. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiential aspects of self-anger and the relationship between ADHD symptom severity and self-anger. Four hundred twenty-four adults (aged 18 and up), 216 of whom reported having a diagnosis of ADHD or attention-deficit disorder (ADD), completed the Assessment of Self-Anger Episode to answer questions about the features of a recent and intense incident of self-anger. The results revealed that self-anger was more likely to be related to a work or school-related issue and to occur in a private setting, unlike other-anger. In addition, self-anger was associated with physiological symptoms characteristic of other-anger and cognitions characteristic of depression. Behaviors one felt like doing and physiological symptoms each accounted for the most unique variance in predicting self-anger intensity. Participants also completed measures of trait self-anger, ADHD symptom severity, depression, anger rumination, and self-condemnation. Correlations and linear regressions showed that adults experienced more self-anger, anger rumination, and depression as ADHD symptom severity increased. Furthermore, self-condemnation and anger rumination were found to partially mediate the relationship between ADHD symptom severity and self-anger. The findings confirmed that self-anger is a unique and sometimes maladaptive emotional experience that warrants attention in research and clinical domains.

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