(PS11-C69) Anger Cognitions Scale-prison Version Revised

Sunday, November 20, 2022

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EST

Location: Westside Ballroom, 5th Floor

Author(s)

MW

Michael Wydo, Psy.D.

Psychologist
Albert Ellis Institute
Queens, New York
JT

Jacqueline Torres, None

Student
St. John's University
Jamaica, New York
SG

Shannon E. Gasparro, B.A.

Graduate Student
St. John’s University
Holtsville, New York

Co-Author(s)

AP

Ashleigh Plummer, None

Undergraduate Student
St. John’s University
Queens, New York
KR

Katharine Romero, M.A.

Graduate Student
St. John’s University
Queens, New York
AS

Annette Schieffelin, B.A.

Graduate Student
St. John’s University
Forest Hills, New York
GB

Gianna Bolusi, B.A.

Graduate Student
St. John’s University
Queens, New York

Author(s)

RD

Raymond DiGiuseppe, ABPP, Ph.D.

Professor
St. John's University
Jamaica, New York

Attempts to treat anger are important, and CBT has emerged as the most effective intervention. Little consensus exists about which cognitive constructs to target in treatment. Insight into the specific cognitive constructs that most strongly relate to disturbed anger may guide the development of more effective treatments. The Anger Cognitions Scale (ACS) assesses the Cognitive-Behavioral cognitions of misattributions for hostile intent, overgeneralization, inflammatory labeling, demandingness, and catastrophizing. Wydo & Martin developed a version of this scale for use with prison inmates and found that the subscales measuring its cognitive constructs predicted anger in this population. This study explored a prison version of the Anger Cognitions Scale-Revised (ACS-R). ACS-R-Prison Version shows prisoners responded to anger-provoking events that happen in prisons and examined its relationship with dysfunctional anger measures. The cognitive construct measured in the ACS-R included: hostile attribution (HA); negative consequences of anger (NCA); inflammatory labeling (IL); demandingness (DE); frustration intolerance (FI); awfulizing (AWF); overgeneralization (OG). Confirmatory analyses tested the ACS-R factor structure in an adult sample. 71 unidentified adult male Federal Prisoners completed the ACS-R Prison Form and a measure of dysfunctional anger. No other demographics were gathered because the prison prohibited the collection of such information. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between the ADS-SF total score and its 3 subscales [reactive anger (RA) anger vengeance (AV), and Anger-In] with the seven anger-related beliefs. Multiple regression revealed that none of the negative beliefs significantly predict the ADS-SF total score or RA score. We found that negative beliefs significantly predicted Anger-In and AV. Only HA significantly predicted RA. Although negative beliefs significantly predicted AV, the variables have shared variance and no unique variance. OG correlates more with Anger-In compared to the other constructs, while anger vengeance correlates significantly more with the ADS-SF total score and correlates less with reactive anger. Among the seven negative beliefs, there was a positive association between Anger-In and HA, Anger-In and IL. Results suggest that prison inmates' anger internally influences their desire to take revenge on others. They endorse responding with aggressive behaviors in reaction to perceived hostile threats or provocation. Results indicated that inmates with internal anger are more likely to interpret others' behaviors as hostile and assign negative labels to other people or events. Anger that includes coercive events does not appear to be significantly explained by the constructs in this study, suggesting that attempts to change those cognitions won’t really change that coercive anger. The next step would be to explore which cognitions significantly predict coercive anger in prisoners.