Date Presented 04/06/19
The purpose of the study is to examine the validity of the anger scale. Three hundred and eleven normal subjects and 322 persons with mental illness were recruited to participate in the study. The data were analyzed using the Rasch measurement model with Winsteps 3.56 and SPSS 22. The results of the study demonstrated the adequate reliability and construct validity of the anger scale when applied to normal subjects and persons with mental illness in Taiwan.
Primary Author and Speaker: Ay-Woan Pan
Additional Authors and Speakers: Tsyr-Jang Chen
PURPOSE: Literature demonstrated that emotion of anger is related to aggression, bulling, criminal behavior and drug abuse etc. In order to prevent the bad consequence of anger, a proper measure to assess degree of anger is important. There are a few psychometrically sound measures of anger available (1). Therefore, the aim of the presentation is to examine the psychometric qualities of the anger scale developed by PROMIS® item banks (2).
DESIGN AND METHODS: The anger scale was translated into traditional Chinese following the FACIT translation and validation methodology. There are 22 items in the anger scale with a rating scale of 5 point. Three hundred and eleven normal subjects and three hundred and twenty-two persons with mental illness were recruited to participate in the study. The mean age of the subjects are 38 years old (SD=14.5). 35.9% of them were graduated from college; 72.5% of the subjects were single. 56% of the persons with mental illness were diagnosed as Schizophrenia. 17.7% were first onset and 43.8% were admitted to hospital for 1-3 times. The data were analyzed using Rasch measurement model with Winsteps 3.56 and SPSS 22.
RESULTS: The results showed that all items fit the Rasch measurement model except for item 6 (When I was mad at someone, I gave them the silent treatment). The rating scale structure are adequate. The remaining items explained 60% of the variance which the unexplained variance of the 1st contrast was 4.5%. 90% of the subjects can be measured accurately. The item reliability is 0.98 and the converted separation level is 11. There were 7 items showing DIF between normal subjects and persons with mental illness. The results of independent T test showed that there is significant difference of anger score between normal subjects and persons with mental illness which the normal subjects showed more anger response.
CONCLUSION: The results of the study demonstrated the adequate reliability and construct validity of Anger scale when applied to normal subjects and persons with mental illness in Taiwan. There were DIF items in the scale which needs to be noticed. The possible reasons for the higher anger score for normal subjects than for persons with mental illness will be addressed.
IMPACT STATEMENT: The results of the study can provide evidence of the anger scale to apply in clinical practice. Adequate measurement of anger can help occupational therapists to identify emotional distress of the clients for further approach.
References
García-León, A., Reyes, G.A., Vila, J., Pérez, N., Robles, H., & Ramos, M.M. (2002). The Aggression Questionnaire: a validation study in student samples. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 5(1), 45-53.
Schalet, B.D., Pilkonis, P.A., Yu, L., Dodds, N., Johnston, K.L., Yount, S., Riley, W., & Cella, D. (2016). Clinical Validity of PROMIS® Depression, Anxiety, and Anger across Diverse Clinical Samples. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 73, 119-127. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2015.08.036
