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Angry Thoughts and Daily Emotion Logs: Validity of the Angry Cognitions Scale

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Abstract

The Angry Cognitions Scale (ACS; Martin and Dahlen in J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Therapy 25:155–173, 2007) was designed to measure six cognitive processes related to anger: misattributing causation, overgeneralizing, catastrophizing, demandingness, inflammatory labeling, and adaptive processes. Preliminary evidence on the reliability of the ACS has been positive, demonstrating that the ACS is correlated with the experience and expression of anger, anger consequences, hostile thoughts, and responses to provocation (Martin and Dahlen in J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Therapy 25:155–173, 2007; J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Therapy, 29:65–76, 2011). This previous research, however, has suffered from limitations associated with demand characteristics and the reliance on retrospective data. The current study sought to address these limitations by using daily emotion logs. Results showed that the ACS predicted the daily experience of anger and anger related consequences, contributing to the literature on the ACS as a valuable measure of anger-related cognitions.

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Correspondence to Ryan C. Martin.

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Martin, R.C., Vieaux, L.E. Angry Thoughts and Daily Emotion Logs: Validity of the Angry Cognitions Scale. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 31, 219–230 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-013-0171-2

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