SOCIAL SKILLS AND COGNITIVE-RELAXATION APPROACHES TO GENERAL ANGER REDUCTION

Inductive social skills training (ISST), skill assembly social skills training (SASST), and cognitive-relaxation coping skills (CRCS) traini ng were compared with a no-treatment control condition for general ang er reduction. At 4-week follow-up, compared with the control group, al l treatment groups showed equivalent reductions of the amount of anger experienced in a wide range of situations. ISST and CRCS Ss reported less anger in their worst ongoing provocation than did control Ss, whe reas SASST Ss did not differ from Ss of other groups. Treatment groups enhanced anger control equally relative to the control group, but onl y the CRCS group significantly lowered outward, negative expression of anger, and only the ISST group reduced anger suppression, although ac tive treatment groups did not differ from one another on these measure s. The ISST group lowered day-to-day anger more than other groups. No treatment effects were found for nontargeted trait anxiety and asserti veness. Results are discussed in terms of prior findings and the effic acy and flexibility of ISST.