Early clinical observations and more recent clinical studies have identified that individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) commonly experience difficulties with anger and anger expression. However, no exploration of this relationship has been undertaken in samples of mentally disordered offenders (MDOs), despite the high levels of PTSD and anger-related difficulties identified within this population. The current study explored the relationship between PTSD and anger in a sample of 44 mentally disordered male and female offenders. Participants completed self-report measures that examined posttraumatic symptomology, trait anger, anger expression and alexithymia. Results indicated that PTSD was prevalent within this sample although no participants had received a formal diagnosis. PTSD was tentatively related to trait anger, although this was no longer the case when the effect of gender was taken into account. PTSD and anger expression were also related, although PTSD did not predict anger expression when trait anger was controlled. Alexithymia was found to be predictive of trait anger. The findings indicate that a diagnosis of PTSD should be considered in samples of MDOs. Furthermore, interventions aimed at addressing anger and anger expression in the context of PTSD might be effective. Treatments for anger might also be effectively supplemented by addressing emotion regulation skills.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:589455 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Kalyani, Tania |
| Publisher | University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0022 seconds