Citation

Cornell DG, Peterson CS, Richards H. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 1999; 67(1): 108-115.

Affiliation

Curry Program in Clinical Psychology, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22903-2495, USA. dcornell@virginia.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10028214

Abstract

This study examined the validity of trait anger as a predictor of aggressive behavior among juvenile offenders. Two standard self-report anger scales were administered to 65 recently incarcerated male adolescents. These youths were followed prospectively for physical and verbal aggression during 3 months of subsequent incarceration. Anger scores were not correlated with participant history of violent offending or staff ratings of anger. However, anger scores from both instruments were predictive of subsequent physical and verbal aggression. For example, the Trait Anger scale successfully classified 66% of juvenile offenders into high and low aggressive groups; receiver operating characteristic analysis obtained an effect size of .72. These results support the predictive validity of self-reported anger in identifying juvenile offenders at risk for institutional aggression.

Language: en