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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Aggressive Behavior, and Anger: Recent Findings and Treatment Recommendations

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (K Chard and T Geracioti, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

While cognitive-behavioral treatment has been shown to be effective in treating anger in the general population, there is little empirical evidence to support the utility of these interventions in reducing anger, hostility, and aggression among patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Furthermore, many existing interventions for anger do not directly target hostile cognitive scripts or discuss processes of risk for aggressive behavior, two notable anger-related constructs that are reported at higher rates for patients with PTSD compared to those without PTSD. Thus, the authors reviewed the theoretical foundation for a newly developed cognitive-behavioral intervention for the treatment of anger, hostility, and aggression for patients with PTSD. Furthermore, the authors recommended several screening and assessment measures to aid in referral for anger-specific interventions for patients with PTSD and provided empirically based support for the use of motivational interviewing techniques in responding to patients who exhibit intense anger within treatment settings.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, specifically, by a VISN 10 Research Initiative Program grant at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cincinnati VA Medical Center, 1000 South Fort Thomas Avenue, Fort Thomas, KY, 41075, USA

    Erica L. Birkley Ph.D. & Jeremiah A. Schumm Ph.D.

  2. University of Cincinnati, 2600 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, 45221, USA

    Jeremiah A. Schumm Ph.D.

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  1. Erica L. Birkley Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Erica L. Birkley Ph.D..

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Jeremiah Schumm declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders

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Birkley, E.L., Schumm, J.A. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Aggressive Behavior, and Anger: Recent Findings and Treatment Recommendations. Curr Treat Options Psych 3, 48–59 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40501-016-0069-6

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