Assessment of mode of anger expression among adolescent students in Zagazig University

Abstract

This study was undertaken to assess the mode of anger expression among adolescent males and females in Zagazig University using a cross-sectional descriptive study design. The study was conducted on a convenience sample of 443 adolescents from two theoretical faculties (commerce and law) and two practical faculties (nursing and science). The tools used to collect data were a self-administered questionnaire, the descriptive scale of expression of anger, and the adolescent anger rating scale. The results showed that most students from rural areas and chose faculty by own will. Overall, 27.8% of students had inappropriate or high expression of anger as a response to anger provoking situations. As for the mode of anger expression, 65.0% externalized their emotions, 2.9% internalized their emotions, and 90.7% controlled anger. Overall, 12.6% of students had high rating of expressed emotions to anger provoking situations. Anger expression is influenced by family income, failure at faculty, number of friends of the same sex, and smoking. Male sex, family income, and choice of faculty by own will are independent predictors of the adolescent anger scale score. In conclusion, most adolescent university students in Zagazig have wrong mental evaluation or misunderstanding for anger sources, and bad feeling after anger provoking situations, but a small percentage have high severity of anger; externalization of emotions after anger is much higher than internalization, but the majority can control their anger. Intervention programs to promote anger management skills among adolescents are recommended, which include training in social interaction and related skills. Further research is proposed to assess the effectiveness of assertive training for adolescents to cope with their problems, and adjust with anger provoking situations.