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Journal of Neuroengineering and... Aug 2023Anger dyscontrol is a common issue after traumatic brain injury (TBI). With the growth of wearable physiological sensors, there is new potential to facilitate the...
BACKGROUND
Anger dyscontrol is a common issue after traumatic brain injury (TBI). With the growth of wearable physiological sensors, there is new potential to facilitate the rehabilitation of such anger in the context of daily life. This potential, however, depends on how well physiological markers can distinguish changing emotional states and for such markers to generalize to real-world settings. Our study explores how wearable photoplethysmography (PPG), one of the most widely available physiological sensors, could be used detect anger within a heterogeneous population.
METHODS
This study collected the TRIEP (Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Emotion-Physiology) dataset, which comprised of 32 individuals (10 TBI), exposed to a variety of elicitation material (film, pictures, self-statements, personal recall), over two day sessions. This complex dataset allowed for exploration into how the emotion-PPG relationship varied over changes in individuals, endogenous/exogenous drivers of emotion, and day-to-day differences. A multi-stage analysis was conducted looking at: (1) times-series visual clustering, (2) discriminative time-interval features of anger, and (3) out-of-sample anger classification.
RESULTS
Characteristics of PPG are largely dominated by inter-subject (between individuals) differences first, then intra-subject (day-to-day) changes, before differentiation into emotion. Both TBI and non-TBI individuals showed evidence of linear separable features that could differentiate anger from non-anger classes within time-interval analysis. However, what is more challenging is that these separable features for anger have various degrees of stability across individuals and days.
CONCLUSION
This work highlights how there are contextual, non-stationary challenges to the emotion-physiology relationship that must be accounted for before emotion regulation technology can perform in real-world scenarios. It also affirms the need for a larger breadth of emotional sampling when building classification models.
Topics: Humans; Emotional Regulation; Photoplethysmography; Anger; Emotions; Brain Injuries, Traumatic
PubMed: 37582733
DOI: 10.1186/s12984-023-01217-5 -
Child Maltreatment Nov 2022Research has consistently shown that child maltreatment and witnessed violence lead to disrupted patterns of social functioning, yet the mechanisms underlying these...
Research has consistently shown that child maltreatment and witnessed violence lead to disrupted patterns of social functioning, yet the mechanisms underlying these pathways remain unclear. This cross-sectional study evaluated whether anger and/or attention problems mediated the links from abuse, neglect, and witnessed violence to peer problems and aggressive behavior. Participants included a diverse sample of 470 children (ages 8-11; 52.1% boys) living in out-of-home care. Subtype and severity of maltreatment exposure were coded using Child Protection Services' intake reports and court records. Witnessed violence and anger were assessed using child-reports, and caregivers provided ratings of attention problems and social functioning. Indirect effects were tested using a series of structural equation path analysis models. Results indicated that anger fully mediated the links from witnessed violence to both peer problems and aggressive behavior. Further, attention problems fully mediated the links from physical abuse and physical neglect to both peer problems and aggressive behavior. These findings highlight the need for interventions to target anger regulation and attentional control among children in out-of-home care in order to mitigate their risk for social maladjustment.
Topics: Anger; Attention; Child; Child Abuse; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Home Care Services; Humans; Male; Social Interaction; Violence
PubMed: 34766514
DOI: 10.1177/10775595211038926 -
Journal of Psychiatric Research May 2021Up to 14% of veterans engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) in their lifetime and this behavior is a relatively strong predictor of suicidal behavior compared to...
Up to 14% of veterans engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) in their lifetime and this behavior is a relatively strong predictor of suicidal behavior compared to other identified risk factors. Further, NSSI is a clinically relevant behavior in its own right; it is associated with more severe psychopathology as well as bodily harm that sometimes requires medical intervention. Therefore, a better understanding of NSSI may help inform suicide prevention efforts as well as mental healthcare strategies for veterans. Anger may be relevant to understanding NSSI in veterans. Over 60% of veterans report difficulties managing anger and this emotion is strongly associated with engagement in NSSI. However, no research has explored the extent to which anger is present prior to NSSI or whether anger is associated with specific NSSI methods or functions in veterans. The purpose of this study was to explore whether anger was associated with engagement in specific NSSI methods, and whether anger uniquely predicted any functions of NSSI while controlling for the presence of other basic negative emotions (fear and sadness). An existing dataset of 61 veterans who reported engaging in NSSI in the past year was analyzed. Results indicated anger was the most common emotional antecedent to NSSI. Further, anger was associated with several methods of NSSI including burning oneself with a cigarette, carving pictures, designs or other marks into skin, sticking sharp objects into skin, severely scratching oneself, head banging, punching oneself, and punching walls or objects. Finally, when controlling for the presence of other negative emotions, anger was associated with engaging in NSSI to relieve tension, stop feeling numb, communicate with others, feel alive, get help from others, and prove to oneself how bad things are. These results highlight the importance of assessing and treating dysregulated anger in veterans who engage in self-harming behavior.
Topics: Anger; Emotions; Humans; Self-Injurious Behavior; Suicidal Ideation; Veterans
PubMed: 33652327
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.02.026 -
The Journal of Pain Feb 2022Mechanisms explaining the relationship between pain-related injustice appraisals and functional outcomes in youth with chronic pain have yet to be examined. In studies...
Mechanisms explaining the relationship between pain-related injustice appraisals and functional outcomes in youth with chronic pain have yet to be examined. In studies of adults, greater pain-related injustice is associated with worse depressive symptoms and greater pain through greater anger. No study to date has examined anger expression as a mediator in the relationships between pain-related injustice appraisals and physical and psychosocial functioning in youth with chronic pain. The current sample consisted of 385 youth with varied pain conditions (75% female, 88% White, M=14.4 years) presenting to a university-affiliated pain clinic. Patients completed self-report measures assessing anger expression (anger-out and anger-in), pain-related injustice, pain intensity, functional disability, and emotional, social, and school functioning. Bootstrapped mediation analyses indicated that only anger-out (indirect effect= -.12, 95% CI: -.21, -.05) mediated the relationship between pain-related injustice and emotional functioning, whereas both anger-out (indirect effect= -.17, 95% CI: -.27, -.09) and anger-in (indirect effect= -.13, 95% CI: -.09, -.001) mediated the relationship between pain-related injustice and social functioning. Neither mode of anger expression mediated the relationship between pain-related injustice and pain intensity, functional disability, or school functioning. Collectively, these findings implicate anger as one mechanism by which pain-related injustice impacts psychosocial outcomes for youth with chronic pain. PERSPECTIVE: Anger expression plays a mediating role in the relationship between pain-related injustice appraisals and psychosocial outcomes for youth with chronic pain. Anger represents one target for clinical care to decrease the deleterious impact of pain-related injustice on emotional and social functioning.
Topics: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Anger; Chronic Pain; Female; Humans; Male; Psychosocial Functioning
PubMed: 34375744
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2021.07.005 -
Journal of the National Cancer Institute Aug 2022
Topics: Anger; Humans
PubMed: 35191494
DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djac041 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2021(1) Background: Different investigations relate mindfulness practice as a strategy to cope with and improve negative repetitive thinking states and forgiveness. (2)...
(1) Background: Different investigations relate mindfulness practice as a strategy to cope with and improve negative repetitive thinking states and forgiveness. (2) Methods: The aim is to analyze the mediating processes of mindfulness as a trait and the changes in the anger rumination on forgiveness. This sample comprised 264 undergraduate students ( = 24.13 years, = 11.39). The instruments used were the Anger Rumination Scale (ARS), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). For data analysis, the spillover effect was calculated using 10,000 bootstrap samples for the bootstrap confidence intervals (CI). (3) Conclusions: The results confirm that the relationship between mindfulness practice and forgiveness is mediated by changes in mindfulness trait and anger rumination. Given the results obtained, it is considered appropriate to extend the study to samples from other countries, as well as to contexts of depressive rumination or anxiety.
Topics: Anger; Anxiety; Forgiveness; Humans; Mindfulness; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 33800890
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18052668 -
JAMA Network Open Jul 2022Few studies have examined the role of problematic anger in long-term adjustment of service members transitioning out of the military.
IMPORTANCE
Few studies have examined the role of problematic anger in long-term adjustment of service members transitioning out of the military.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of problematic anger during the military-to-civilian transition period and the association of problematic anger with adjustment to civilian life.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This cohort study used 2 waves of survey data administered approximately 5 years apart (time 1 [T1; September 26, 2014, to August 25, 2016] and time 2 [T2; October 23, 2019, to August 31, 2021]) from the Millennium Cohort Study, a population-based military study. Participants were US active-duty service members within 24 months of separating from military service at T1. Statistical analysis was performed from September 2021 to May 2022.
EXPOSURES
Problematic anger was operationalized as scoring at least 12 points on the 5-item Dimensions of Anger Reactions scale at T1.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Behavioral and functional health (depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, problem drinking, functional limitations), relationship health (relationship quality, coping with parental demands, social support), and economic health (major financial problems, financial insecurity, homelessness, employment status) were assessed at T2. Covariates, assessed at T1, included demographics, military characteristics, mental health, problem drinking, and physical health.
RESULTS
Of the 3448 participants, 2625 (76.1%) were male, 217 (6.3%) were Hispanic, 293 (8.5%) were non-Hispanic Black, and 2690 (78.0%) were non-Hispanic White; the mean (SD) age was 40.1 (8.5) years; 826 (24.0%) met criteria for problematic anger. Prevalence of problematic anger was 15.9% (95% CI, 12.2%-19.7%) 24 months prior to military separation and 31.2% (95% CI, 26.2%-36.2%) 24 months following separation. After adjusting for covariates, problematic anger was associated with greater likelihood of behavioral and functional health outcomes (eg, posttraumatic stress disorder: adjusted odds ratio, 1.55, 95% CI, 1.23-1.96), relationship health difficulties (eg, low social support: aOR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.23-2.24), and economic difficulties (eg, substantial financial insecurity: aOR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.13-2.39) at T2.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
This cohort study found an association between prevalence of problematic anger during the military-to-civilian transition and problematic anger with subsequent adjustment difficulties among US service members. These findings suggest the need to equip service members proactively with skills to identify and manage anger as a way to support them before and during this period of transition.
Topics: Adult; Alcoholism; Anger; Cohort Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Military Personnel; Prevalence; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
PubMed: 35862043
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.23236 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2023Speech emotion recognition is an important research topic that can help to maintain and improve public health and contribute towards the ongoing progress of healthcare...
Speech emotion recognition is an important research topic that can help to maintain and improve public health and contribute towards the ongoing progress of healthcare technology. There have been several advancements in the field of speech emotion recognition systems including the use of deep learning models and new acoustic and temporal features. This paper proposes a self-attention-based deep learning model that was created by combining a two-dimensional Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and a long short-term memory (LSTM) network. This research builds on the existing literature to identify the best-performing features for this task with extensive experiments on different combinations of spectral and rhythmic information. Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs) emerged as the best performing features for this task. The experiments were performed on a customised dataset that was developed as a combination of RAVDESS, SAVEE, and TESS datasets. Eight states of emotions (happy, sad, angry, surprise, disgust, calm, fearful, and neutral) were detected. The proposed attention-based deep learning model achieved an average test accuracy rate of 90%, which is a substantial improvement over established models. Hence, this emotion detection model has the potential to improve automated mental health monitoring.
Topics: Speech; Emotions; Anger; Fear; Happiness
PubMed: 36982048
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20065140 -
Journal of the American Academy of... Feb 2023Impairing emotional outbursts, defined by extreme anger or distress in response to relatively ordinary frustrations and disappointments, impact all mental health care... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
Impairing emotional outbursts, defined by extreme anger or distress in response to relatively ordinary frustrations and disappointments, impact all mental health care systems, emergency departments, schools, and juvenile justice programs. However, the prevalence, outcome, and impact of outbursts are difficult to quantify because they are transdiagnostic and not explicitly defined by current diagnostic nosology. Research variably addresses outbursts under the rubrics of tantrums, anger, irritability, aggression, rage attacks, or emotional and behavioral dysregulation. Consistent methods for identifying and assessing impairing emotional outbursts across development or systems of care are lacking.
METHOD
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Presidential Task Force (2019-2021) conducted a narrative review addressing impairing emotional outbursts within the limitations of the existing literature and independent of diagnosis.
RESULTS
Extrapolating from the existing literature, best estimates suggest that outbursts occur in 4%-10% of community children (preschoolers through adolescents). Impairing emotional outbursts may respond to successful treatment of the primary disorder, especially for some children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder whose medications have been optimized. However, outbursts are generally multi-determined and often represent maladaptive or deficient coping strategies and responses.
CONCLUSION
Evidence-based strategies are necessary to address factors that trigger, reinforce, or excuse the behaviors and to enhance problem-solving skills. Currently available interventions yield only modest effect sizes for treatment effect. More specific definitions and measures are needed to track and quantify outbursts and to design and assess the effectiveness of interventions. Better treatments are clearly needed.
Topics: Child; Adolescent; Humans; Mood Disorders; Anger; Aggression; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Irritable Mood
PubMed: 35358662
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2022.03.014 -
Neuropsychopharmacology : Official... Aug 2021Anger is a common and debilitating symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although studies have identified brain circuits underlying anger experience and...
Anger is a common and debilitating symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although studies have identified brain circuits underlying anger experience and expression in healthy individuals, how these circuits interact with trauma remains unclear. Here, we performed the first study examining the neural correlates of anger in patients with PTSD. Using a data-driven approach with resting-state fMRI, we identified two prefrontal regions whose overall functional connectivity was inversely associated with anger: the left anterior middle frontal gyrus (aMFG) and the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). We then used concurrent TMS-EEG to target the left aMFG parcel previously identified through fMRI, measuring its cortical excitability and causal connectivity to downstream areas. We found that low-anger PTSD patients exhibited enhanced excitability in the left aMFG and enhanced causal connectivity between this region and visual areas. Together, our results suggest that left aMFG activity may confer protection against the development of anger, and therefore may be an intriguing target for circuit-based interventions for anger in PTSD.
Topics: Anger; Brain; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
PubMed: 33500557
DOI: 10.1038/s41386-020-00942-y