Mindfulness based cognitive therapy for the reduction of anger in married men

The efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as proposed by Segal, Williams and Teasdale (2002) for the reduction of anger in married men was examined in this study. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used. Participants were four married men who scored in the upper quartile of the Anger Expression Out Scale, reported having anger problems in marital situations, and expressed a desire to learn to control their anger. Baseline data collection occurred for 2 weeks, and each participant began baseline 1 week following the preceding participant. The treatment phase included 7 weekly psychotherapy sessions in which a modified version of Segal et al.'s (2002) MBCT was implemented. Follow-up data were collected for 2 weeks post-treatment.;Self-report dependent measures included the Anger Expression Scales, Anger Control Scales, State Anger Scale, Trait Anger Scale and the Conflict Tactics Scale-Form N. Behavioral measures included hand dynamometer frequency and intensity readings.;State anger was measured twice during the baseline phase, three times during the treatment phase and twice during follow-up. Participants listened to an audio tape of 40 barbs. These barbs were customized for each participant to represent common topics of his marital conflict. While each participant listened to the tape his hand dynamometer frequency and intensity measurements were recorded. The State Anger Scale was completed immediately following these sessions.;Efficacy of MBCT was evaluated through visual inspection of the data and statistical analyses. Visual inspection suggested that, for the most part, participants demonstrated changes in the predicted direction on the majority of variables. Three of the four participants had statistically significant decreases in mean State Anger Scale scores from baseline to the end of treatment, which were maintained at follow-up. One participant demonstrated a significant reduction on the Trait Anger Scale from baseline to end of treatment and one participant showed a significant decrease on the Anger-Expression Out Scale from baseline to follow-up. Two participants demonstrated significant reductions in hand dynamometer intensity readings from baseline to the end of treatment, which were maintained at follow-up. All participants anecdotally reported that the MBCT program had a positive effect on their life and helped them deal with anger.