The Effectiveness of Anger Management Training on the Reduction of Cortisol Level in Aggressive Male Adolescents in Najaf Abad City

Anger and aggression are found in all cultures and are the most common kind of behavioral problems, which cause discomfort and distress in others; thus, they disrupt the mental health of the community. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of anger management training on the reduction of aggression and cortisol levels in aggressive male adolescents in Najaf Abad city in 2018.

The research method was semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test in two control and experimental groups. The subjects consisted of 30 high school male students in Najaf Abad who had a high score in the Spielberger anger inventory. They were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups (n=15 in each group). First, cortisol levels were tested in each group, and then eight sessions of training in anger management skills were held for the experimental group. After completing the training sessions, both groups were tested and completed the Spielberger anger inventory again. Univariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.

The results showed that there was a significant difference between the post-test mean scores of two experimental and control groups, and anger management training was effective on the reduction of cortisol and aggression level in the experimental group at the significant level of p<0.05.

Anger management training can be considered as a supportive and effective tool for reducing aggression and used for aggressive adolescents in particular.