Symposium 95 - Remembering the Forgotten Emotion: New Approaches to Understanding Anger in Youth

Chair(s)

• AR

  Amy Roy, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

  Professor of Psychology
  Fordham University
  Bronx, New York, United States

Discussant(s)

• MB

  Melissa Brotman, PhD

  Principal Investigator
  Emotion and Development Branch, NIMH
  Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Presenter(s)

• RD

  Raymond DiGiuseppe, ABPP, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

  Professor
  St. John's University
  Queens, New York, United States
• NK

  Natasha Kostek, M.S.

  Doctoral Candidate
  St. John's University
• EF

  Erica Ferrara, M.S.

  Fordham University
  Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
• MB

  Margaret Benda, M.A. (she/her/hers)

  Graduate Student
  Fordham University
  Bronx, New York, United States
• SG

  Shannon Gasparro, M.A. (she/her/hers)

  St. John’s University
  Queens, New York, United States
• 

  Denis Sukhodolsky, ABPP (he/him/his)

  Assistant Professor
  Yale
  New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Despite concerns in the popular press that we are living in an “Age of Anger,” this emotion is highly understudied, particularly in children and adolescents. A brief PubMed search of “anger and youth” yields less than 1/10 of the number of publications than a search for “anxiety and youth. Further, while there is an extensive literature on childhood aggression, a behavioral manifestation of anger, there are fewer studies of the emotion of anger, which may or may not be associated with aggressive behavior. While over the past decade, there has been an increase in studies of pediatric irritability, defined as proneness to anger in response to frustration, the study of anger itself is lagging behind. This symposium aims to highlight the importance of studying anger in children and adolescents by sharing novel findings regarding conceptualization and assessment that identify critical targets for intervention and important avenues for further research. First, Dr. Ray DiGiuseppe will present the results of a latent profile analysis of the Anger Regulation and Expression Scale (ARES) completed by over 1300 child participants. Eight unique anger profiles were identified that differ across levels of severity, aggression type, and anger expression, with clear implications for clinical work. Second, Erica Ferrara, M.S., will present findings from a study that utilized a novel frustrating social stress task to examine anger in a sample of young adolescents. Her results demonstrate a unique association between irritability and anger, which lends empirical support to defining irritability as a proneness to anger. Third, Maggie Benda, M.A. will present findings from a neuroimaging study of young children who exhibit severe temper outbursts. Her results show unique neural bases of anger attribution biases, or the tendency to interpret situations, behaviors, and faces as angry. Fourth, Shannon Gasparro, M.A. developed the third edition of the Anger Cognitions Scale to measure cognitive constructs believed to predict dysfunctional anger. Her presentation will detail findings from a large college sample, highlighting the role of honor code beliefs in anger, with clear applications to cognitive interventions. Fifth, children with autism frequently exhibit anger and related behaviors such as temper outbursts but are rarely asked to report on their own experience of anger. Dr. Denis Sukhodolsky will present findings from a recent study supporting the reliability and validity of the State-Trait Anger Experience Inventory (STAXI) in a sample of autistic children and matched neurotypical controls. Finally, Dr. Melissa Brotman, an expert in treating pediatric irritability and anger, will serve as discussant and present her thoughts regarding the empirical and clinical implications of the presented findings.

Presentations:

• 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM EST

  (SYM 95) All Angry Youth Are Not the Same: A Latent Profile Analysis of the Anger Regulation and Expression Scale
  

  Speaker: Raymond DiGiuseppe, ABPP, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – St. John's University

  Speaker: Natasha Kostek, M.S. – St. John's University
• 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM EST

  (SYM 95) Novel Assessment of the Unique Association Between Irritability and Anger Responses to Frustration in Adolescents
  

  Speaker: Erica Ferrara, M.S. – Fordham University

  Co-author: Hyunjung Lee, M.A. – Fordham University

  Co-author: Jill Stadterman Guarecuco, Ph.D. – Fordham University

  Co-author: Melanie R. Somekh, Ph.D. – Fordham University

  Co-author: Emily Hirsch, M.A. – Fordham University

  Co-author: Rodolfo Keesey, B.S. – Fordham University

  Co-author: Heining cham, PhD – Fordham University

  Co-author: Lindsay Till Hoyt, Ph.D. – Fordham University

  Co-author: Amy Krain Roy, Ph.D. – Fordham University
• 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM EST

  (SYM 95) Brain Connectivity and Anger Attribution Bias in Irritable Youth
  

  Speaker: Margaret S. Benda, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Fordham University

  Co-author: Mariah DeSerisy, Ph.D. – Columbia University Medical Center

  Co-author: Cara Levitch, PhD – NYU Grossman School of Medicine

  Co-author: Amy K. Roy, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Fordham University
• 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM EST

  (SYM 95) Which Cognitions Best Predict Dysfunctional Anger in College Age Youth?
  

  Speaker: Shannon Gasparro, M.A. (she/her/hers) – St. John’s University

  Co-author: Yareli Perez-Ibarra, BA – St. John's University

  Co-author: Annette Schieffelin, MA – St. John's University

  Co-author: Katharine D. Romero, M.A. – St. John’s University

  Co-author: Raymond DiGiuseppe, ABPP, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – St. John's University
• 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM EST

  (SYM 95) Anger Experience and Expression in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
  

  Speaker: Denis Sukhodolsky, ABPP (he/him/his) – Yale

  Co-author: Sydney Anderson, B.A. – Yale University School of Medicine

  Co-author: Michelle Menezes, Ph.D. – Yale University School of Medicine

  Co-author: Karim Ibrahim, Psy.D. – Yale University School of Medicine, Child Study Center