Written by Frances Barry, LMFT
Abstract
In the California court system, for some offenses, anger management classes can be imposed during sentencing. However, there are no systemic processes in place to measure the effectiveness of these classes. The goal of this study was to evaluate if attending anger management classes that followed the Anger Management Essentials curriculum improved an individual’s ability to manage anger. The Anger Expression Index (AXI), from the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 TM (STAXI-2 TM ) was collected pre- and post-course. Mixed models assessed change in the AXI for (i) all participants, (ii) court-ordered versus self-referred participants, and (iii) participants with a higher versus lower intensity of angry feelings. The analysis included ninety-nine adults; the average age was 39 (SD=13) years,
76% male, 73% court-ordered, and 83% with low-intensity of angry feelings.
Mixed models indicated a significant (p=0.0001) decrease in AXI for the study population, no difference
(p>0.05) in the AXI decrease between court-ordered and self-referred and a significant (p=0.0009) greater decrease for participants with a higher intensity of angry feelings. This study indicated that anger management classes utilizing the Anger Management Essentials curriculum had a positive impact on the way participants managed their anger.
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