(PS11-C70) Identifying Subtypes of Dysfunctional Anger: A Latent Profile Analysis of the Anger Disorders Scale (ADS)

Although psychologists in multiple settings see patients with problematic anger as frequently as they encounter patients with anxiety and depression (Lachmund et al., 2005), we lack the diagnostic categories for anger that most affective disturbances have been granted by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5: American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Anger is most often seen as a symptom of a wide range of mood and personality disorders. The most comprehensive attempt to form an anger taxonomy proposed 13 clusters of anger subtypes that fell within three hierarchical diagnoses called Anger Regulation and Expression Disorder (ARED) (DiGiuseppe & Tafrate, 2007). Anger-Regulation-Expression Disorder (ARED) captures individuals with problematic anger that have angry affect and aggressive behaviors. Within ARED, there are three subtypes: anger-in (subjective), anger-out (expressive), and a combined type. Attempts to verify this typology in adult and adolescent populations have supported the theory that some individuals present as highly aggressive with or without high affective anger or non-aggressive with suppressed overcontrolled anger. However, studies have been inconclusive about other differences within these categories. This study aimed to clarify these subtypes using Latent Profile Analysis with a sample of 1170 individuals meeting the criteria for dysfunctional anger. An eight-class solution of dysfunctional anger subtypes fits the data best. We propose that these eight classes can be conceptualized as falling within four broader categories: Persistent Mild Anger Pathology,  ARED - Primarily Expressive Type, ARED - Combined Type, and Situational Anger. Persistent Mild Anger Pathology and Situational Anger were further differentiated between expressive (exhibiting mild aggression) and subjective (displaying mild affective anger) types. The ARED Combined Types emerged as either Verbally-Coercive, Passive Aggressive, or having the most extreme anger presentation with elevated scores on all affective and aggressive anger measures. Variability in anger expression and experience for angry outpatients and correctional inmates within these classes indicates that anger profiles vary even in populations where one might assume that anger appears in primarily aggressive ways. Although individuals in incarcerated settings or in treatment for anger problems might be diagnosed with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) due to their impulsivity or aggressive behaviors, this diagnosis fails to recognize the involvement of suppressed anger in maintaining symptoms. In addition, the proposed situational clusters scored significantly lower than all other clusters on a measure of the scope of anger provocation. Thus, these profiles likely exhibit anger that is not generalizable across many situations. Clinically, we must provide personalized psychoeducation and bring client awareness to the variability within anger expression. These efforts may help begin the therapeutic process of distinguishing healthy from problematic anger reactions and allow clinicians to format individualized cognitive-behavioral interventions.