Abstract
Public school students participated in a group to enhance and improve anger management. The study used a pre-post design with a comparison group. Students were assigned to either Anger Management Treatment or Anger Management plus Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). Each child served as his or her own control and received an empirically validated intervention. Pretest–posttest data were evaluated using the Social Skills Rating System, the Children’s Depression Inventory and the Children’s Inventory of Anger. Results indicate that the addition of the REBT component to Anger Management reduced anger as well as depression, while improving social skills, suggesting the addition of a specialized cognitive behavioral component increased the effectiveness of the intervention.
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Appendices
Appendix 1
Situations for Anger Management Skills Groups
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1.
My teacher expects me to do 6 h of homework.
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2.
My parents expect me to do a lot of chores. Put out the garbage, clean up my room, clear off the table, pick up the leaves, do my laundry. They are real slave drivers.
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3.
Everyone else was invited to the party. It’s unfair that I wasn’t invited; they should have invited me.
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4.
My friends don’t understand anything. Why can’t they see things the way I do? I know I’m right.
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5.
School has too many rules. Especially in the lunchroom. It’s unfair that we can’t talk loudly.
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6.
That kid makes me angry. He’s a moron. He bothers me.
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7.
I really get mad when the TV breaks—it’s boring—and I have to wait 3 days for the repair man to come.
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8.
My sister/brother thinks that she/he is so good. My mother lets her/him stay up until midnight. My mother only makes me go to bed early. My mother must love her/him more.
Appendix 2
Consent/Assent Form
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Your child has been invited to take part in a small counseling group. The group is called Anger Coping. Your child’s teacher and I believe this will be helpful to your child to be able to improve control of his/her anger or temper, improve his/her behavior in school, and help him/her improve social problem solving skills, set positive school goals, and learn different ways to think so that he/she is less likely to become upset in the first place. Participation has been opened to the entire class and is voluntary.
Groups will be run by —————, the school psychologist. These groups will meet once or twice a week for approximately 12 sessions. Groups will meet at lunchtime. Before the groups begin the youngsters will be asked to fill in some forms. The same forms will be filled in after the program in order to evaluate it. These forms will be kept confidential. In the group, role-playing will be used to learn to control anger, learn to solve problems with others and to develop positive school goals.
Please call …—————.. at ..................... should you have questions. Additional explanation of each activity is available upon request. Should you not want your child to participate, this is acceptable and this will not effect the availability of other school psychological services. You are also free to withdraw your child’s participation after the program begins.
Your written permission as well as the written permission of your child is required for participation. Please note there are several places below that require your signature and that of your child. Thank you for your attention.
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Flanagan, R., Allen, K. & Henry, D.J. The Impact of Anger Management Treatment and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in a Public School Setting on Social Skills, Anger Management, and Depression. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 28, 87–99 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-009-0102-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-009-0102-4