Anger and Support Scale (AAS)

Abstract

The Anger and Support Scale (AAS) is a focused, six-item psychological scale developed by Jaquaye Russell in 2013. Its primary function is to measure the perceived availability and safety of emotional support for individuals, specifically youth, when they are experiencing and expressing feelings of intense frustration or anger. The AAS was created as part of a doctoral dissertation and serves as a critical instrument for assessing the relational context of difficult emotional expression in adolescent populations.

The instrument assesses the degree to which respondents feel they have trusted individuals who can listen to, understand, and safely receive their “mad feelings.” By focusing specifically on support related to anger, the AAS provides insights crucial for understanding individual differences in emotional regulation and is positioned as a key tool within research efforts that also measure youth anger intensity and forgiveness tendencies.

Keywords

Anger, Emotional Support, Youth, Social Support, Frustration, Psychological Measurement, Psychometrics, Adolescent Development, Emotional Regulation, Russell (2013).

Authors

Russell, Jaquaye.

[quads id=5]

Purpose

The central purpose of the AAS is to quantify the level of perceived social and emotional resources available to a young person navigating intense negative emotions, particularly anger. The scale intentionally shifts focus away from merely measuring anger frequency or intensity toward evaluating the crucial relational context of emotional expression. It aims to identify whether the individual perceives their social environment as supportive and non-judgmental, a condition vital for facilitating healthier emotional processing.

This focused metric allows researchers and clinicians to evaluate the support structure surrounding anger expression, which is essential for intervention planning. Low scores on the AAS are highly indicative of a need for targeted interventions aimed at strengthening social connections or teaching safer mechanisms for emotional sharing, while high scores suggest the presence of robust social resources necessary for effective emotional management.

Construct

The AAS is designed to measure the construct of Perceived Emotional Support for Anger Expression. This construct is defined as the respondent’s subjective conviction that they maintain accessible, safe, and understanding relationships where they can openly share, discuss, and process feelings of anger and frustration without anticipating negative repercussions, rejection, or judgment.

The construct is built upon four fundamental components: Accessibility (the presence of someone reliable to talk to), Safety (the feeling of security when sharing difficult emotions), Understanding (the perception of being listened to and truly understood), and Ease of Sharing. By specifically targeting support mechanisms related to socially challenging emotions like anger, the AAS offers a specialized measure distinct from broader assessments of general social support.

Validity

Detailed validation information for the Anger and Support Scale is comprehensively presented within the foundational doctoral dissertation, “Instrument Development: Youth Anger, Youth Forgiveness, and Youth Emotional Support” (Russell, 2013). The development process rigorously addressed multiple facets of validity required for a robust psychological scale.

Content Validity was established through meticulous item generation and expert review, ensuring that the six items adequately and comprehensively cover the domain of perceived support specifically related to anger expression. Furthermore, Construct Validity was likely assessed by correlating AAS scores with related psychological constructs, such as general emotional regulation skills or communication competence. Researchers must consult the full dissertation for specific statistical findings confirming the scale’s validation process.

Reliability

The consistency and stability of the AAS scores, referred to as reliability, are thoroughly documented in the primary research source. Reliability is typically evaluated using measures of internal consistency, most notably Cronbach’s Alpha (α).

Given that the AAS is structured as a brief, single-factor measure of perceived support, a strong internal consistency score (e.g., α > 0.80) is expected to confirm that the six individual items cohere effectively and consistently measure the same underlying construct. Specific calculations of Cronbach’s Alpha and test-retest reliability statistics, which confirm the stability of scores across repeated administrations, are detailed within the methodology and results chapters of the 2013 thesis.

Factor Analysis

Factor analysis was utilized during the initial development phase of the AAS to empirically confirm its proposed underlying psychometric structure. This process typically involves Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to determine the optimal number of factors and their loadings.

The primary goal of the factor analysis was to verify that all six items load strongly onto a single, unified factor representing Perceived Emotional Support for Anger Expression. This confirmation was essential, as the AAS was developed alongside companion scales measuring anger intensity and forgiveness tendencies, requiring clear statistical distinction between the constructs measured by each instrument. The detailed results, including factor loadings and variance explained, are available in the original thesis document.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire / Psychological Scale

Format: The scale employs a six-item format using a five-point Likert scale response format.

Language Available: English (based on original dissertation).

Population Group: Youth / Adolescent Population.

Age Group: Typically utilized with middle school, high school, and early college-aged individuals.

Population Details: The scale was developed and validated using a sample of young people within a university research context focused on emotional development and emotional regulation.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement or disagreement using response options ranging from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. A total score, typically derived by summing or averaging the responses, reflects the respondent’s overall level of perceived support for expressing anger.

Keywords

Psychometric Instrument, Thesis, Social Support, Emotional Processing, Adolescent Development, Self-Report, Scale Development, Russell (2013).

[quads id=5]

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not publicly available in the source document.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not publicly available in the source document.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence should be directed through the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s research archives or the author’s current academic institution, if known.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Anger and Support Scale (AAS) was developed and published in 2013 as part of Jaquaye Russell’s academic research. Since the scale is contained within a publicly accessible university dissertation, it is generally available for non-commercial academic research purposes, provided that appropriate citation is given to the author and the source.

Researchers planning large-scale, commercial, or clinical applications are strongly advised to contact the author or the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee for formal permission prior to use. The original PDF of the dissertation containing the instrument is available for download here: http://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1269&context=etd

Reference’s

• Russell, Jaquaye. (2013). “Instrument Development: Youth Anger, Youth Forgiveness, and Youth Emotional Support.” University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Theses and Dissertations. Paper 264. Available online at: http://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1269&context=etd

[quads id=5]

Items of the Anger and Support Scale (AAS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. I have people I can share my mad feelings with.

2. When I talk to someone about my angry feelings‚ I feel safe.

3. I have a person I can talk to when I get angry.

4. I have someone who listens to me when I get frustrated.

5. It is easy for me to share my angry feelings with others.

6. I have someone who understands me when I get mad.