Background: Patients with various psychiatric disorders may suffer from feelings of anger, sometimes leading to maladaptive (e.g., aggressive) behaviors. We examined to what extent depressive and... Show moreBackground: Patients with various psychiatric disorders may suffer from feelings of anger, sometimes leading to maladaptive (e.g., aggressive) behaviors. We examined to what extent depressive and anxiety disorders, relevant clinical correlates, and sociodemographics determined the level of trait anger and the prevalence of recent anger attacks.Methods: In the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), the Spielberger Trait Anger Subscale and the Anger Attacks Questionnaire were analyzed in patients with depressive (n = 204), anxiety (n = 288), comorbid (n = 222), and remitted disorders (n = 1,107), as well as in healthy controls (n = 470) based on DSM-IV criteria.Results: On average, participants were 46.2 years old (SD = 13.1) and 66.3% were female. Trait anger and anger attacks were most prevalent in the comorbid group (M = 18.5, SD = 5.9, and prevalence 22.1%), followed by anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, remitted disorder, and controls (M = 12.7; SD = 2.9, and prevalence 1.3%). Major depressive disorder, social phobia, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder were most strongly associated to trait anger and anger attacks.Limitations: Due to a cross-sectional design, it was not possible to provide evidence for temporal or causal relationships between anger and depressive and anxiety disorders.Conclusions: Trait anger and anger attacks are linked to depressive and anxiety disorders, although the strength of the relationship differed among both anger constructs. Show less
Kunst, L.E.; Groot, J. de; Does, A.J.W. van der 2019
The gender difference in the prevalence of depression is well-documented, poorly understood and multifactorial. Considering that gender differences exist in the expression of emotions, we... Show moreThe gender difference in the prevalence of depression is well-documented, poorly understood and multifactorial. Considering that gender differences exist in the expression of emotions, we hypothesized that ambivalence over the expression of sadness and anger contributes to the difference in depression scores between men and women. Questionnaires on depressive symptoms and ambivalence regarding sadness and anger expression were completed by 550 respondents (66.9% women, average age 27.8years). Women reported more depressive symptoms and were more ambivalent over the expression of both sadness and anger than men. Ambivalence over sadness andto a lesser extentanger mediated the relationship between gender and depressive symptoms. We conclude that ambivalence over emotion expression may partly explain why depression occurs more frequently in women than men. Show less
