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

The DSM lacks anger diagnostic categories. Clinicians use Opposition Defiant Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, and, less often, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. No research exists to suggest that these categories best represent the angry youth receiving mental health services.

Several articles have used cluster analysis (CA) to identify groups of angry youth. These cluster analytic studies have not yielded consistent results. The inconsistencies could have resulted because CA poses some difficulties in the decision rules for deciding the number of clusters in the data. We believe that Latent profile analysis (LPA), based on latent class analysis and structural equation modeling, is a better procedure.

This study attempted to verify these subtypes and identify differences within subgroups of dysfunctional anger. We hoped this anger subtype refinement would lead to differential treatments for each subtype.

We collected a large sample of youth who completed the Anger Regulation and Expression Scale (ARES: DiGiuseppe & Tafrate, 2011). One thousand three hundred-plus participants met our criteria for dysfunctional anger scores. These included subjects from the ARES normative sample and various clinical samples who completed the ARES. The ARES consists of 75 items divided into 17 subscales. These include Internalized Anger subscales measuring Psychological Arousal, Cognitive Arousal, Rejection, Anger-In, Resentment, and Suspiciousness. Within Externalized Anger, there are subscales assessing Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Covert Aggression, Revenge, Bullying, Impulsivity, Relational Aggression, and Passive Aggression. Within the extent of Anger were subscales assessing the Scope of Triggers, anger Problem Duration, and Episode Duration. This study includes the most subscales and the largest sample size of any attempt to determine anger subtypes.

The Fit Indices supported eight profiles. These were labeled - mild anger, a mild aggression group, subjective mildly affective anger), high anger primarily expressive, verbally-coercive, passive-aggressive type, extreme anger type, situational anger only, expressive (anger out), subjective (anger in), and combined anger out and anger in type.

Clinical descriptions for each subtype and treatment recommendations will be addressed.