Dr. Miranda Worthen, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Science and Recreation, gave a presentation titled Risk and Protective Factors for Anger and Violent Behavior in U.S. Military Service Members at the Fall University Scholar Series.

Over 2.5 million service members have been deployed since September 11, 2001, and the potential for problems with anger and violence to hamper their reintegration into civilian life has prompted considerable attention in the media. However, the pathways by which war-time experience affects anger and violent behavior of service members is not well understood. In addition, anger issues may differ for the 16% of service members who are women, but this possibility has not been explored in the research literature.

Dr. Worthen’s research used both qualitative and quantitative methods. A qualitative study examined veterans’ perceptions of the causes and consequences of anger on their lives and how those perceptions differed by gender. A quantitative study examined the prevalence of anger problems and violence by gender and other demographics, and the association between anger, violence and various risk and protective factors.

Findings from the qualitative study revealed that veterans felt their anger affected their ability to maintain relationships and employment, and to stay in school. Findings from the quantitative study showed that the high prevalence of anger and low prevalence of violence found in military service members did not differ by most demographics including gender. However, service members were more likely to exhibit anger and violence when they had been deployed multiple times or when they had PTSD, and less likely to exhibit anger and violence when they had social support.

Of particular interest, Dr. Worthen found that the relationship between PTSD severity and anger differed by gender: Men showed a stronger correlation between PTSD and anger when they had been deployed than when they had not, while women showed the opposite – a stronger correlation between PTSD and anger when they had not been deployed over when they had. These findings for women do not support either of the prevalent theories about the cause of the relationship between war time experiences and anger or violence, and indicate the need for more research examining gender differences in studies of veterans, war time experiences, and anger and violence.

You can learn more about Dr. Worthen’s research on her website on ScholarWorks, and see upcoming talks at the series on the University Scholar Series website.