Annotated Bibliography: Anger Management in Schools Introduction Anger management is a well-researched topic in the field of education and counseling. The following resources may be useful in understanding previous research about anger management and aggression in schools. These studies will likely help to better understand what has previously worked in regards to anger management within the school setting and previous areas of limitations. Ideally, this research will guide the action research project being conducted that focuses on implementing anger management small groups in elementary school. References Anderson, D. H., Fisher, A., Marchant, M., Young, K., & Smith, J. A. (2006). The cool card intervention: A positive support strategy for managing anger. Beyond Behavior, 16(1), 3-13. In this empirical article, researchers discussed two case studies from Peaceable Schools, a preventative PBS model. Through the implementation of a behavior support plan, they demonstrated a preventative approach to reduce anger-associated disruptive classroom behavior. The behavior support plans in these case studies utilized the Cool Card anger-management strategy, which focuses on social-skills instruction and anger-control training; in addition, the plans include social skills instruction and a reinforcement system. In both case studies, the Cool Card intervention was successful, and the intervention was eventually no longer necessary in order to ensure positive behavior in the classroom. Several factors potentially contributed to the success of this intervention: the participants were taught new skills, the strategy was implemented in the general education classroom, which allowed students to immediately transfer the new skills to
real life, and the intervention was implemented using a collaborative, team-based Amy Schreiber approach. A major limitation of this study is that it was a two-subject case study, making the findings very hard to generalize to a greater population. Besley, K. R. (1999). Anger management: Immediate intervention by counselor coach. Professional School Counseling, 3(2), 81-90. This empirical article examined the effectiveness of coaching students in the classroom setting in order to transfer anger management skills from counseling sessions. Two fourth grade boys participated in this single subject study. The researcher, a school counselor, conducted six sessions with the students, focusing on the physical symptoms of anger, the effects of angry behavior, and specific anger management techniques. Specifically, they were taught the ACE technique, which involved adapting and accepting the situation (A), confronting others in a positive way (C), and escaping the situation either physically or emotionally when they cannot adapt or confront (E). After the counseling sessions were completed, the counselor joined the students in their classroom setting four times; when an angry reaction occurred, she talked to the student and helped them use the ACE technique to calm down, coaching them through the process. The counseling and coaching intervention was successful; afterwards, teachers reported that students were able to use the ACE technique with either a verbal cue or without any cues at all. In addition, there was a decrease in the number of times students were sent to the office. Limitations include an extremely small sample size and a difficult procedure to duplicate.
Burt, I., Patel, S. H., & Lewis, S. V. (2012). Anger management leadership groups: A creative intervention for increasing relational and social competencies with aggressive youth. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 7(3), 249-261. This empirical article examined the effects of a school-based anger management group on the perceived leadership and anger management abilities of fourth and fifth grade elementary students. The single subject study focused on creating leadership abilities and improving students relational competencies, and it focused on four modules: intentionality, forethought, self-reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness. The sample included thirty-two students (although it later decreased to twenty-nine students), and the intervention lasted twelve weeks. The school counselors at four different schools conducted the group, which was scripted. Pretest-posttest results indicated significant changes in participants anger and leadership ability; they perceived that their anger decreased and their leadership ability increased. Limitations of the study include a small sample size, which means limited generalizability of results, and the use of self-reported assessments. Dearing, K. F., & And, O. (2002). Children's self-reports about anger regulation: Direct and indirect links to social preference and aggression. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48(3), 308-36. In this empirical article, the researchers conducted a study to assess the relationship between self-reported anger regulation and peer-rated preference and aggression. Selfreported anger regulation was based on the following three factors: creating strategies for dissembling external anger expression, generating strategies for regulating the internal experience of anger, and using display rules for anger. 274 boys and girls in the second
grade participated in the study, which involved playing anger-arousing games and then being interviewed on the various aspects of anger regulation. The researchers found that anger regulation is not directly related to social preference or aggression. However, they did find that both aggression and peer rejection are related to the likelihood of participants expressing more anger when interacting with others. One key takeaway is the importance of separating anger-regulation strategies into two categories: internal regulation and external regulation. Limitations of this study included the concept that students self-reported their anger, the fact that they only assessed second grade students (making it harder to generalize to the larger population), and the notion that the games may, in fact, not have actually stimulated the feeling of anger, as they were intended to do. Deming, A. M., & Lochman, J. E. (2008). The relation of locus of control, anger, and impulsivity to boys' aggressive behavior. Behavioral Disorders, 33(2), 108-119. In this empirical article, researchers describe and discuss the findings of a cross-sectional study regarding how anger, locus of control, and impulsivity relate to aggression. The sample included 242 fourth and fifth grade boys and utilized questionnaires to gather information. Teachers completed an assessment regarding the participants level of aggression. The participants self-reported their level of anger and locus of control, as measured by the Affect Questionnaire and the Multidimensional Locus of Control Scale. Impulsivity was assessed using the Early Adolescent Temperament Measure, which utilized child self-reports and parent reports on temperament variables. Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that anger and impulsivity are positively associated with aggression. On the contrary, internal locus of control is negatively associated with
aggression. A limitation of this study is that it is cross sectional in nature, which makes it impossible to link causal relationships. Fryxell, D., & Smith, D. C. (2000). Personal, social, and family characteristics of angry students. Professional School Counseling, 4(2), 86-94. The purpose of the study was to collect descriptive data on personal, family, peer, and school factors that might result in anger-related problems at school. Forty-eight fifth and sixth grade participants were involved in this study, half of whom were in a high-anger group and the other half of whom were categorized into a low-anger group (as a comparison sample). Participants were selected through teacher recommendations and the Multidimensional School Anger Inventory (MSAI), and then interviewed (along with parents and teachers). The research yielded many findings. In the personal domain, gender was the most influential factor (with more males in the high-anger group). In the family domain, they found a significant inverse relationship between teacher ratings of parental support and the students anger levels. In the peer domain, there was a significant inverse correlation between MSAI scores (anger level) and the number of friends students reported having at school. In the school domain, there was a moderately significant inverse relationship between MSAI scores (anger level) and school success. The researchers also listed potential ideas to consider when developing anger management program in schools. One major limitation was the inability to capture genetic and biological information that might influence anger levels. Gaines, T., & Barry, L. M. (2008). The effect of a self-monitored relaxation breathing exercise on male adolescent aggressive behavior. Adolescence, 43(170), 291-302.
This empirical article examined the effectiveness of relaxation breathing exercises as an intervention to reduce aggressive behavior in male adolescents. The researchers conducted a single-subject design with 6 participants, all of whom were part of a residential juvenile justice program for male adolescents. The study was an ABAB format, with a 14-day treatment followed by a 2-day withdrawal. The results of the study were very mixed. In fact, only one participant demonstrated improvement in his aggressive behavior (as measured by a daily behavior score and checks for bad language). Several participants didn t have any improvement in their scores, although they did not get worse. The benefits for relaxation breathing exercises were generally inconsistent, although anecdotal reports suggested that the participants found it useful. Limitations of this study include the extremely small and very specific sample. Also, the researchers mention that their timeline to conduct the study was shortened, and therefore the intervention was rushed. Shipman, K. L., Zeman, J., Nesin, A. E., & Fitzgerald, M. (2003). Children's strategies for displaying anger and sadness: What works with whom? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 49(1), 100-22. In this empirical article, researchers described a study that examined the influence of various expressive strategies on children s expectancies regarding interpersonal responses. Children use various strategies to express emotion, including verbal expressions, facial expressions, crying, sulking, or mild aggressive behaviors. This study examined 144 participants (with an average age of 10 years 8 months) expected responses of social partners (mothers, fathers, and best friends) based on the expressive strategy used to demonstrate anger or sadness. Findings from the study suggest that
children understand that certain expressive strategies are deemed more socially Amy Schreiber acceptable than others; this knowledge may factor into the choice of expressive strategy used when interacting with their social environment. In terms of aggressive behavior, findings indicated that children understand that if they display aggressive behaviors to express anger and sadness, they will likely receive high levels of conflict from their social partners. A limitation of this study is that it 94% of the participants were Caucasian students from lower- to middle-class; in order to better understand the implications of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, it would be beneficial to have a more diverse sample. Conclusion The eight resources listed in this annotated bibliography highlight various studies that have been conducted to better understand aggression and anger management strategies in school settings. According to empirical research, the strategies that seem to be most effective are ones that include opportunities to transfer newly learned skills from an individual or group counseling session to the actual classroom setting. School counselors can use this information as they plan anger management interventions in elementary schools. However, although utilizing transfer techniques may be most effective, the limitations of many of the studies suggested that it requires a great deal of time and collaboration. General limitations that recurred throughout many of the studies were small sample sizes or samples that were very specific, making the findings of most of these studies hard to generalize to the greater school population.
Resource Anderson, Fisher, Marchant, Young, & Smith, 2006 Type of Resource Empirical Summary Table Topic or Treatment Anger Management Besley, 1999 Empirical Anger Management Burt, Patel, & Lewis, 2012 Empirical Anger Management Conclusion The Cool Card intervention was successful, as judged by the fact that even after the intervention was faded and eventually removed, students continued to apply the strategies they learned. The counseling and coaching intervention was successful; afterwards, teachers reported that students were able to use the ACE technique with either a verbal cue or without any cues at all. In addition, there was a decrease in the number of times students were sent to the office. Pretest-posttest results indicated significant changes in participants anger and leadership Limitations This report included two case studies; the small sample size of two participants makes the findings difficult to generalize. This single subject study had only two participants, making it very difficult to generalize the results. Also, because of resource restraints, duplicating the study and conducting individualized coaching may be difficult. There was a small sample size, making the results less generalizable. Also, the assessment was
Dearing & And, 2002 Deming & Lochman, 2008 Fryxell & Smith, 2000 Empirical Anger management ability; they perceived that their anger decreased and their leadership ability increased. Anger regulation is not directly related to social preference or aggression. They emphasized the importance of separating angerregulation strategies into two categories: internal regulation and external regulation. Empirical Aggression Researchers concluded that anger and impulsivity are positively associated with aggression. They also found that internal locus of control is negatively associated with aggression. Empirical Anger Management They found a relationship between levels of parental support and students level of anger. There was also a relationship between anger Amy Schreiber self-reported. Students selfreported their anger. Also, participants were all in second grade, making it harder to generalize to the larger population. Lastly, the games might not have actually aroused the feeling of anger, as they were intended to do. This was a crosssectional study, which means that causal interpretations cannot be made. Researchers did not capture genetic and biological information, which might influence anger levels.
Gaines & Barry, 2008 Shipman, Zeman, Nesin, & Fitzgerald, 2003 Empirical Anger Management levels and number of friends students reported having at school. In addition, there was a relationship between anger levels and school success. The results of the study were very mixed. Only one participant demonstrated improvement in his aggressive behavior. However, although the benefits for relaxation breathing exercises were generally inconsistent, anecdotal reports suggested that the participants found it useful. Empirical Aggression Children understand that certain expressive strategies are deemed more socially acceptable than others, which may factor into the choice of expressive strategy used when interacting Amy Schreiber The sample for this study was extremely small and very specific sample. Also, the researchers mention that their timeline to conduct the study was shortened, and therefore the intervention was rushed. The sample was almost entirely Caucasian students from lower- to middleclass families. It would be beneficial to have a more diverse sample in order to better understand the implications of race, ethnicity,
with their social environment. Also, children understand that if they display aggressive behaviors to express anger and sadness, they will likely receive high levels of conflict from their social partners. and socioeconomic status.