Effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy for university students with trait anger: A cognitive technique considering individual differences in anger coping style

The purposes of the present study were to examine effects of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) focused on the behavioral aspects of anger and beliefs about anger coping styles, on alleviating anger in Japanese university students with high Trait-Anger scores, and to examine the results in relation to individual differences in anger coping styles. Participants were 33 university students who scored at the mean or higher on a Trait-Anger Scale. They were divided into high Anger-Out (AO) and high Anger-In (AI) groups ; half of each of these groups was assigned to either a cognitive behavior therapy intervention or a control group. For 4 weeks, both of the groups receiving cognitive behavior therapy were given an intervention focused on the behavioral and cognitive aspects of anger. Trait-Anger decreased in both cognitive behavior therapy groups relative to the control groups. Additionally, the Anger-In cognitive behavior therapy participants had greater improvement in their anger self-statements during the training sessions, and more positive beliefs about anger suppression between the pre- and post-tests than did the Anger-In cognitive behavior therapy participants. These results were discussed in comparison to previous findings. The authors stress the importance of considering individual differences in anger coping style.