Mood Emot.  2023 Nov;21(3):80-85. 10.35986/me.2023.21.3.80.

Anger Coping Styles in Patients with Mood Disorders

• Kim K
• Moon E
• Lim HJ
• Suh H
• Lee YM
• Lee BD
• Park JM

• KMID: 2552399
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.35986/me.2023.21.3.80

Abstract

Background
Examining anger coping styles in patients with mood disorders is essential for a comprehensive understanding of them. This study aims to compare anger coping styles between patients with mood disorders and healthy individuals.
Methods
This study involved 237 patients diagnosed with bipolar and depressive disorders and 310 healthy controls. The Anger Coping Scale, specifically developed to assess anger coping characteristics in the Korean population, was used to measure anger coping styles. A comparison was made between patients with mood disorders and healthy individuals.
Results
Patients with mood disorders exhibited higher levels of behavioral aggression (p<0.001), verbal aggression (p<0.001), and anger suppression (p=0.001) styles and lower levels of problem-solving (p<0.001) and tensionreleasing (p<0.001) styles when experiencing anger, in comparison to healthy individuals. Furthermore, patients with bipolar disorders demonstrated higher problem-solving (p=0.024) and tension-releasing (p=0.001) coping styles when dealing with anger than patients with depressive disorders.
Conclusion
These results suggest that patients with mood disorders may possess more vulnerable anger coping characteristics compared to healthy controls. Additionally, patients with bipolar and depressive disorders exhibit different anger coping styles. Future study should focus on developing anger coping styles in patients with mood disorders.

Keyword

Anger; Psychological adaptation; Mood disorders; Bipolar disorder; Depressive disorder