Citation

Reilly PM, Shopshire MS. Am. J. Drug Alcohol Abuse 2000; 26(2): 161-177.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco and San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 94121, USA. REILLY.PATRICK_M@SANFRANCISCO.VA.GOV

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10852354

Abstract

Cocaine abusers who fail to manage anger appropriately may have greater difficulty achieving and maintaining abstinence. We conducted a pilot study to examine an anger management group treatment in a sample of 59 men and 32 women with a diagnosis of cocaine dependence. Participants attended a 12-week anger management group treatment and background substance abuse treatment. Levels of anger, negative affect, and anger control were measured at baseline, weekly during treatment, and at 3-month posttreatment follow-up. Levels of anger decreased and anger control increased between baseline and the end of treatment. End-of-treatment changes were maintained at follow-up. These findings were not moderated by gender, age, or psychiatric medication use. In the absence of a randomized control group, we cannot make conclusive statements regarding the effectiveness of the anger management group treatment. However, these preliminary findings demonstrate the need for a randomized clinical trial to test the efficacy of the anger management group treatment.

Language: en