Paper
Effects of anger control training on abusive parents
Published Jan 26, 1983 · S. Nomellini, R. C. Katz
Cognitive Therapy and Research
25
Citations
0
Influential Citations
Abstract
Parental abuse is a leading cause of childhood death and injury (Gelles, 1978; Kempe, 1976; Starr, 1979). One of the many causes of this condition is the inability of parents to control angry impulses (Allan, 1978; Ambrose, Hazzard, & Haworth, 1980; Gil, 1974). When parents lack effective anger management skills, they are ill prepared to cope with family stress or with provocative child behavior. Anger-arousing events may thus give rise to aggressive overreactions, and to potentially dangerous parent-child encounters (Friedman, Sandler, Hernandez, & Wolfe, 1980; Novaco, 1976). This study used a cognitive social learning approach to help abusive parents control their angry impulses better. The methods used were similar to those of Novaco (1976, Note 1) and consisted of (a) early detection of physiological cues associated with anger arousal, (b) replacing angerproducing thoughts with more appropriate cognitions, and (c) developing self-control skills to modulate the expression of anger in anger-eliciting situations. Previous studies on child abuse (Crozier & Katz, 1979; Denicola & Sandler, 1980) have reported encouraging results by improving parents' child management skills. This study approached the problem from a different perspective-by attempting to modify a cognitive-affective state that may mediate abusive behavior when anger occurs.
Anger control training effectively helps abusive parents control their angry impulses, reducing the risk of aggressive overreactions and potentially dangerous parent-child encounters.
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