Anger Management Techniques

Abstract

Anger is an emotion involving emotional, cognitive, physiological, and behavioral components. Anger leads to a variety of negative consequences, including interpersonal, physical, and mental health difficulties. Psychosocial treatments of anger can be traced to the 1970s and Raymond Novaco's adaptation of stress inoculation training to target anger symptoms. Since then, a variety of psychosocial treatments have been implemented, including skills training, relaxation‐based, multicomponent, exposure, and cognitive behavioral treatments. Several meta‐analyses examining the efficacy of anger treatments have been conducted leading to estimates of effect sizes generally in the medium to large range. However, extant research has been criticized for a dependence on self‐report measures and a lack of follow‐up assessments, active control conditions, and dismantling studies. Additional concerns, including the possibility of iatrogenic effects and poor findings in offender populations are highlighted.