Anger Control Treatment for Forensic Patients

Abstract

This study evaluates the efficacy of a short-term cognitive-behavioral anger control intervention with forensic patients. Forty subjects participated in the study and were randomly assigned to an anger control treatment or to a control group. The anger control group consisted of six one-hour sessions of cognitive-behavioral and stress inoculation treatment while the control group consisted of a psychoeducational treatment of comparable length. Subjects were assessed pre- and postintervention on measures of anger, impulsivity, and coping strategies. The results of the study demonstrated that following treatment, anger control subjects reported significantly lower levels of anger than did control subjects. In addition, following participation in the anger control treatment, subjects reported a greater use of cognitive restructuring strategies and less use of self-denigration strategies than did the controls. The overall results of this study support the efficacy of a short-term cognitive-behavioral treatment for anger control with forensic patients. The potential use of this short-term intervention for the prediction and assessment of treatability is also discussed.

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