Fear of anger and its relation with anxiety- and depressive symptoms

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between fear of anger and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Two samples; one clinical, consisting of patients with various anxiety disorders and depression (n = 22) and one student sample (n = 198) were included in the study. Results showed that fear of anger is positively related with anxiety- and depressive symptoms and that change in fear of anger predicts change in anxiety- and depressive symptoms over time among students. However, there was no significant difference in fear of anger between the patients and the student sample, indicating that fear of anger may be more of a general psychological process than a distinctive feature of anxiety disorders and depression.