Females are more than twice as likely to have a diagnosis of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) making PTSD particularly relevant to female mentally disordered offenders (MDOs). Female offenders have been observed to report higher levels of trait anger and anger expression compared to males. Exploration of the relationship between anger and PTSD is in its infancy among MOOs. This study investigated gender differences in the levels of PTSD and anger and in the relationship between PTSD and anger in a sample of 66 MOOs using a cross sectional design. Participants completed self- report measures of posttraumatic symptomatology, trait anger, anger expression, depression, anxiety and social desirability. Results indicated that PTSD was particularly prevalent among female MOOs, which was independent of potential con founders, however none of the participants had received a formal diagnosis. A gender difference was found on the measure of trait anger in the univariate analysis but did not remain significant when controlling for confounding variables in the multivariate analysis. A gender difference was not found on measures of anger expression in the univariate and multivariate analysis. Consistent with previous research a positive relationship was found between PTSD symptomatology and trait anger, and this correlation remained significant for males and females separately. A positive relationship was found between PTSD symptomatology and anger expression, however this correlation remained significant for females only. However, a gender difference between the relationships of PTSD and trait anger and PTSD and anger expression was not found. The limitations and strengths of the study are outlined, and the clinical, theoretical and research implications of the findings discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:604563 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Walsh, Karen |
| Publisher | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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