Client factors predicting outcome in group treatment for driving anger
Date
2008
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Abstract
College students who scored in the top 25% on a measure of driving anger participated in an eight-week group therapy program designed to reduce their anger while driving. They were assigned randomly to either Cognitive, Behavioral, or Relaxation Coping Skills Therapy. Results confirmed driving anger was effectively lowered in therapy. Also, while high anger levels have sometimes been shown to interfere with treatment for other kinds of problems (Garfield, 1994; Lambert, Hunt, & Vermeersch, 2004), they did not have the same effect on treatments targeting anger specifically. Higher pretreatment driving anger was associated with a greater decrease in driving anger, angry cognitions while driving, aggressive driving anger expression, general trait anger, and to a lesser extent maladaptive general anger expression, and with an increase in positive coping strategies. Higher pretreatment trait anger was associated with a decrease in all of the above except for measures of driving anger. Measures of general anger expression did not predict therapy outcome as well as driving and general anger, but when associations were found, they were in the same direction. Few main effects were observed for gender or treatment type, and those that were found were not consistent. Several interactions were observed between treatment, gender, and/or pretreatment anger level. The majority of interactions were between pretreatment anger and treatment, such that participants responded better to one treatment condition versus another based on whether they reported relatively higher or lower anger levels at pretreatment. These effects sometimes varied by gender. However, given the number of analyses, relatively few significant findings, and directional inconsistencies of these findings, no suggestions for treatment matching were made. In conclusion, pretreatment driving and general trait anger did not interfere with treatment, but were associated with positive gains in therapy, and there was little consistent evidence that would support matching of client characteristics (e.g., gender, driving or general anger level or type, anger expression style) with treatment conditions, at least for short-term, driving anger focused, cognitive-behavioral interventions.
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Subject
anger treatment
client factors
driving anger
group treatment
symptom severity
therapy outcome
treatment matching
clinical psychology