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Anger Expression, Momentary Anger, and Symptom Severity in Patients with Chronic Disease

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Anger expression styles are associated with physical health, and may affect health by modulating anger experience in daily life. Research examining this process in the daily lives of clinically relevant populations, such as patients with chronic disease, is needed.

Method

Community adults with asthma (N = 97) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA; N = 31) completed measures of trait-level anger expression styles (anger-in and anger-out), followed by ecological momentary assessments of anger and physical health five times daily for 7 days.

Results

High anger-in predicted greater momentary anger, physical limitations, and greater asthma symptoms. High anger-out predicted reduced RA symptoms. Momentary anger was robustly associated with more severe symptoms in daily life. Three-way interactions showed that anger-in moderated these momentary anger-symptom associations more consistently in men.

Conclusions

Anger expression styles, particularly anger-in, may affect the day-to-day adjustment of patients with chronic disease in part by altering the dimensions of everyday anger experience, in ways that appear to differ by gender.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01-HL067990) to Joshua M. Smyth. Michael A. Russell is supported by Award Numbers T32 DA017629 and P50 DA010075 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, or the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Michael A. Russell Ph.D.

  2. The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Timothy W. Smith Ph.D.

  3. Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, #231 Biobehavioral Health Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Joshua M. Smyth Ph.D.

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  1. Michael A. Russell Ph.D.
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  2. Timothy W. Smith Ph.D.
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  3. Joshua M. Smyth Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Joshua M. Smyth Ph.D..

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Authors’ Statement of Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards

Authors Russell, Smith, and Smyth declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors have no actual or potential conflicts of interest to report. All procedures were approved by both university and hospital institutional review boards for human research. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Russell, M.A., Smith, T.W. & Smyth, J.M. Anger Expression, Momentary Anger, and Symptom Severity in Patients with Chronic Disease. ann. behav. med. 50, 259–271 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-015-9747-7

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