STAXI-2 C/A Anger Measure

Advanced anger assessment using the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory – 2, Child/Adolescent Version (STAXI-2™ C/A)

An advanced behavioral science tool to help solve the epidemic of youth anger

Published by Psychological Assessment Resources (PAR), our measure has been adapted into 14 languages. If you want to adapt this measure into your home language, please contact us!   

Overview

The STAXI-2 C/A is a 35-item self-report assessment tool that comprehensively yet concisely assesses the experience, expression, and control of anger in 9-18-year-olds, while accounting for their state and trait aspects of anger. The STAXI-2 C/A gives professionals an orderly and intimate sense of key clinical aspects of anger by presenting a user-friendly “anger profile”. Click here for an overview of the STAXI-2 C/A scales and subscales.

Our global impact: Our measure has become internationally recognized. We are currently working with researchers from the United States, Australia, Canada, India, South America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Our measure is currently being used here in the U.S. in a Center for Disease Control (CDC)-funded study. Dr. Brunner recently (2010) authored a book chapter, edited by Dr. Nancy Mather, discussing the value of the STAXI-2 C/A in assessing conditions such as ADHD. This chapter articulates how anger is often a significant but subtle contributor to common problems like ADHD, Anxiety, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and learning disabilities.

Anger has been vastly understudied, and yet is one of the dominant problems in the 21st century.  Anger is one of the most common reasons a child or adolescent is referred in school, clinical, medical, and forensic settings (Brunner & Spielberger, 2009). Anger is a fundamental yet complex emotion, comprised of many facets that must be outlined to fully grasp an individual’s “anger profile”. Anger is often mistaken with similar concepts such as hostility and aggression, but this measure clearly distinguishes these concepts with clear definitions and applications.

Detailed STAXI-2 C/A Information

More detailed information is available by clicking on any of the following, or by scrolling down to the bullet point list of applications for the STAXI-2 C/A:

• STAXI-2 C/A Overview (PowerPoint)
• Overview of the STAXI-2 C/A Scales and Subscales (PDF)
• Sample STAXI-2 C/A psychological report (PowerPoint)
• The STAXI-2 C/A Professional Manual Table of Contents (PDF)

The STAXI-2 C/A is a measure that is being used across school, clinical, forensic, and medical settings because of its unique qualities. These include the following:

• Written at a 4th-grade reading level, the STAXI-2 C/A Rating Booklet is tailored for use by children and adolescents.
• Reflects the 2007 U.S. Census population parameters via a post-stratification weighting procedure that was applied to the STAXI-2 C/A normative sample of 838 public school children and adolescents from several states.
• Distinguishes temporary anger states from more trait-like or other enduring conditions (e.g., whether a temper tantrum is a hallmark of a personality trait vs. a transient state-like event).
• Enhances the ability to assess and diagnose the spectrum of conditions in which anger intensity as an emotional state is important (e.g., bipolar disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, reactive attachment disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder).
• Assesses the degree to which a child reacts only to specific negative events or more generally responds to diverse environmental events.
• Assesses a child’s habitual anger coping style as either externalizing or internalizing (i.e., suppressive)
• Assists in the determination of whether key aspects of a child’s anger profile may be related to problems with his or her health status (e.g., problems exacerbated by intense and/or frequent anger suppression).
• Provides raw score to percentile and T-score conversions for the STAXI-2 C/A scales and subscales for both the total normative sample and the six normative age-by-gender groups.
• Presents discriminant and convergent validity based on correlations with the Achenbach Youth Self-Report (YSR) DSM-Oriented and Syndrome scales for a subset of the normative sample and a clinical sample.
• May be used as part of the diagnostic process, as a tool for monitoring the long-term effects anger may have on children and adolescents, and as a complement to threat assessment measures and procedures in a variety of settings.

Author Publications include:

Brunner, T.M. (2010). Comprehensive assessment of an attention-based learning problem: Capturing the relevance of “psychological vital signs.” In Mather, N., & Jaffe, L. E. (Eds.), Comprehensive Evaluations: Case Reports for Psychologists, Diagnosticians, and Special Educators. NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Brunner, T. M. & Spielberger, C.D., (2009). The State Trait Anger Expression Inventory, Second Edition, Child Adolescent (STAXI-C/A). Psychological Assessment Resources: Sarasota, Florida.

Spielberger, C.D., Moscoso, M.S., and Brunner, T.M. (2005). The Cross-Cultural Assessment of Emotional States and Personality Traits. In Hambleton, R.K, Spielberger, C.D., and Merenda, P.F., Adapting Educational and Psychological Tests for Cross-Cultural Assessment. Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers: Hillsdale, NJ.

Brunner, T.M., & Spielberger, C.D. (2004). Evaluating anger, anxiety, and depression in aggressive/homicidal and depressive/suicidal children and adolescents. Ph.D. dissertation. Dissertation Abstracts International.

STAXI-2 C/A Author Presentations

Brunner, T.M. (2011). Advanced assessment of the pulse of youth anger: A vital sign of our times. Keynote Presentation. 15th Annual Conference on Critical Issues Facing Children & Adolescents.

Brunner, T.M. (2011). Advanced anger assessment & treatment using the STAXI-2 C/A to identify anger profiles. Workshop Presentation. 15th Annual Conference on Critical Issues Facing Children & Adolescents.

Brunner, T.M., Reyes, R., and Toale, S (2011). Advanced Anger Assessment Using the STAXI-2 C/A to Identify Anger Profiles. Paper Presentation. National Association of School Psychology Annual Conference. San Francisco, CA.

Brunner, T.M., & Toale, S. J. (2010). Taking the Pulse of a Fundamental “Psychological Vital Sign”, Advanced Assessment of Youth Anger via Anger Profiling. Pamela Turbeville Lecture Series, Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona.

Brunner, T.M. (2004). Assessing anger in aggressive/homicidal and depressive/suicidal children. Paper presented at the Psychology Department Case Conference, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, June 2004. Gainesville, Florida.

Brunner, T.M., Spielberger, C.D, & Engh, B.J. (2003). Assessing anger, anxiety, and depression in aggressive/homicidal and depressive/suicidal children. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, April 2003. Tampa, Florida.

-Brunner, T.M., & Spielberger, C.D, and Kinder, B.N. (2003). Differentiating between aggressive and depressive children based on their anger style. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality Assessment, March, 2003. San Francisco, California.