Abstract
he purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), specifically inductive social skills training (ISST), for alleviating anger in Japanese university students with high Trait-Anger scores, and to examine the results in relation to individual differences in anger-expression patterns. Participants, 42 undergraduate students who scored above average on Trait-Anger, were divided into 2 groups: (1) high Anger-Out (AO), and (2) high Anger-In (AI). The 2 groups were respectively assigned to either cognitive behavior therapy or control (no treatment) . Over 4 weeks, participants given cognitive behavior therapy received an intervention focused on the behavioral aspects of anger. Those participants were more effective than the control groups in reducing hostility, anxiety, and Trait-Anger; the effect was maintained at a follow-up 3 months after the post-test. Cognitive behavior therapy was more effective in Anger-Out participants than in Anger-In ones. The intervention may have been more effective for those who tend to express anger because it was focused on the behavioral aspects of anger. The importance of considering different patterns of anger expression when applying cognitive behavior therapy was discussed.
