Behavioral Anger Response Questionnaire (BARQ)

Abstract

The Behavioral Anger Response Questionnaire (BARQ) is a psychological assessment instrument designed to comprehensively evaluate an individual’s repertoire of anger responses and behaviors. Developed to move beyond simple measures of anger expression (inward vs. outward), the BARQ identifies how an individual responds to, manages, and perceives the consequences of their anger. It provides valuable insights for mental health professionals seeking to understand complex coping mechanisms and develop appropriate treatment plans, particularly focusing on differentiating between functional (e.g., assertion) and dysfunctional (e.g., rumination, aggression) behavioral styles.

Keywords

Anger coping, behavioral assessment, psychological scale, emotional regulation, self-report, anger management, coping strategies.

Authors

Dr. Ronald Potter-Efron, Dr. Patricia Potter-Efron, W. Linden, A.C. Miers, C. Rieffe, M. Meerum Terwogt, R. Cowan.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the BARQ is to provide a detailed, multidimensional measure of how individuals behaviorally respond when provoked or made angry. Unlike older measures that dichotomized anger into simple ‘anger-in’ or ‘anger-out’ categories, the BARQ captures a nuanced spectrum of coping strategies, ranging from constructive problem-solving to destructive aggression and maladaptive avoidance or rumination.

For clinical practitioners, the BARQ serves as a crucial diagnostic tool to identify potential areas of concern in a patient’s emotional regulation profile. Its results aid in formulating targeted intervention strategies and can be effectively utilized to track a patient’s progress over the course of therapy, ensuring that treatment successfully modifies problematic behavioral anger responses.

Construct

The BARQ measures the psychological construct of behavioral anger coping by assessing specific actions and cognitive strategies employed during or immediately following an anger-inducing event. The scale is built upon the premise that anger responses are complex and can be categorized into distinct, measurable factors. It evaluates not only the outward expression of anger but also internal cognitive processes and social behaviors related to managing the emotion.

The scale captures several dimensions of anger response, providing a holistic view of the individual’s behavioral repertoire. These dimensions include both adaptive strategies, such as Assertion and Social Support-Seeking, and maladaptive strategies, such as Direct Anger-Out, Avoidance, and Rumination.

Validity

While specific coefficients for convergent and discriminant validity are typically detailed in primary research papers, the validity of the BARQ is supported by its clear factor structure, which successfully differentiates between various anger coping styles. Research utilizing the BARQ, such as that by Miers et al. (2007), supports its capacity to measure distinct behavioral outcomes, demonstrating that different coping strategies correlate predictably with distinct psychological outcomes, such as somatic complaints in adolescents.

Reliability

The internal consistency reliability of the BARQ is generally considered acceptable to good across its subscales. Based on published research, the mean Cronbach’s Alpha (α) for the subscales is reported at .76, with a range extending from .65 to .85. This range indicates that the individual subscales maintain sufficient internal consistency to reliably measure the distinct dimensions of anger coping behavior.

Factor Analysis

The factor analysis of the BARQ typically yields a multi-factor structure designed to capture the complexity of anger responses. The scale is generally divided into six distinct factors or subscales, reflecting different behavioral and cognitive strategies used to handle anger:

• Direct Anger-out: Measures overt aggressive or hostile behaviors directed toward the source of anger (e.g., shouting, physical gestures).
• Assertion: Measures constructive, non-aggressive communication aimed at resolving the conflict or expressing feelings appropriately (e.g., calm discussion, problem-solving).
• Social Support-Seeking: Measures the tendency to seek out others for comfort, advice, or validation regarding the anger-provoking situation.
• Diffusion: Measures distraction or displacement activities intended to reduce angry feelings without addressing the source (e.g., engaging in hobbies, exercise).
• Avoidance: Measures efforts to mentally or physically evade the situation or suppress the emotion entirely (e.g., forgetting what happened, telling oneself it is unimportant).
• Rumination: Measures repetitive, negative, and intrusive thoughts about the anger-inducing event.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report Psychological Assessment Tool

Format: The questionnaire contains 35 items (though some versions vary slightly or include additional items for attitude assessment). Items are rated on a five-point Likert scale.

Language Available: English (Original research context suggests potential translations, but primary documentation is English).

Population Group: Clinical and non-clinical populations.

Age Group: Typically used with Adolescents and Adults, though studies have focused on Children and Adolescents (e.g., Miers et al., 2007).

Population Details: Has been validated and used extensively in research examining the relationship between anger coping mechanisms and general well-being, including somatic complaints.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate the frequency or likelihood of engaging in specific behavioral responses when they feel angry, using a scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” The scoring typically sums items within the six distinct subscales.

Keywords

Direct anger-out, assertion, diffusion, avoidant coping, rumination, support seeking, psychological instrument, emotional health.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Not specified in the source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The BARQ is frequently used in academic and clinical research. The original development dates are associated with the work of Potter-Efron, while validation studies, such as those by Linden et al. (2003) and Miers et al. (2007), formalized its structure and application in research settings. The instrument is often made available through academic publications for non-commercial research use. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/411/1/Miers2007Relation653.pdf. Further information regarding instrument development can be found at http://www.focusonemotions.nl/index.php/instrument-development.

Reference’s

The foundational research supporting the structure and application of the BARQ includes:

• Linden, W., Hogan, B. E., Rutledge, T., Chawla, A., Lenz, J. W., & Leung, D. (2003). There is more to anger coping than “in” or “out”. Emotion, 3(1), 12-29.
• Miers, A.C., Rieffe, C., Meerum Terwogt, M., Cowan, R. & Linden, W. (2007). The relation between anger coping strategies, anger mood and somatic complaints in children and adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 653-664.

Items of the Behavioral Anger Response Questionnaire (BARQ)

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

Direct Anger-out

1. I say something nasty to the person who made me angry

2. I use strong gestures (for example‚ make a fist‚ wave my arms‚ or give a hand sign)

3. I swear‚ or curse at the person who made me angry

4. I hit or push the person who made me angry

5. I express my anger by slamming a door‚ or hitting something

6. I shout

Assertion

7. I wait until I am calm again and then talk to the person who made me angry

8. I carefully think it over and then tell the person who made me angry how I feel

9. In a calm voice‚ I tell the person who made me angry how I honestly feel

10. I try to understand what happened‚ so I can explain things to the person who made me angry

11. I stay calm‚ and I try to talk about the problem with the person who made me angry

12. I leave the situation in order to calm down‚ and then try to solve the problem

Social support-seeking

13. I do not show my anger but I talk about what happened with someone afterwards

14. I leave the situation and look for someone who will agree with me

15. I leave the situation‚ find someone to listen to my story‚ and ask for advice

16. I think about the problem first and then talk about it with someone

17. I leave the situation and call a friend or family member to tell him/her how I feel

18. Even without planning it‚ I usually end up talking about my feelings with someone

Diffusion

19. I get rid of my anger by playing music‚ writing‚ or painting

20. I just keep busy‚ until I stop feeling angry

21. I work off my anger by doing some sport

22. I stay on my own to get rid of my anger

23. I simply get very busy with other things to get rid of my anger

24. I work off my anger by doing something else‚ like playing on the computer

Avoidance

25. I tell myself that what happened is not important.

26. I try to forget what happened

27. I put what happened out of my mind

28. I do not want to have to cause trouble‚ so I keep my feelings to myself just wait to feel better

29. I just wait to feel better

30. I try to keep busy so I can forget about what happened

Rumination

31. I keep thinking about what I wish I had done‚ but didn‟t do

32. I find it hard to stop thinking about what happened

33. I am upset for a long time after this kind of situation

34. In my mind‚ I go over the situation that made me angry again and again

Direct Anger-out

1. In an angry way I tell the person who made me angry exactly how I feel

2. I say something nasty to the person who made me angry

3. I use strong gestures (for example‚ make a fist‚ wave my arms‚ or give a hand sign)

4. I swear‚ or curse at the person who made me angry

5. I hit or push the person who made me angry

6. I express my anger by slamming a door‚ or hitting something

7. I shout

Assertion

8. I wait until I am calm again and then talk to the person who made me angry

9. I carefully think it over and then tell the person who made me angry how I feel

10. In a calm voice‚ I tell the person who made me angry how I honestly feel

11. I try to understand what happened‚ so I can explain things to the person who made me angry

12. I stay calm‚ and I try to talk about the problem with the person who made me angry

13. I leave the situation in order to calm down‚ and then try to solve the problem

Social support-seeking

14. I do not show my anger but I talk about what happened with someone afterwards

15. I leave the situation and look for someone who will agree with me

16. I leave the situation‚ find someone to listen to my story‚ and ask for advice

17. I think about the problem first and then talk about it with someone

18. I leave the situation and call a friend or family member to tell him/her how I feel

19. Even without planning it‚ I usually end up talking about my feelings with someone

Diffusion

20. I get rid of my anger by playing music‚ writing‚ or painting

21. I just keep busy‚ until I stop feeling angry

22. I work off my anger by doing some sport

23. I stay on my own to get rid of my anger

24. I simply get very busy with other things to get rid of my anger

25. I work off my anger by doing something else‚ like playing on the computer

Avoidance

26. I tell myself that what happened is not important

27. I try to forget what happened

28. I put what happened out of my mind

29. I do not want to have to cause trouble‚ so I keep my feelings to myself just wait to feel better

30. I just wait to feel better

31. I try to keep busy so I can forget about what happened

Rumination

32. I try to understand why I got upset

33. I imagine how I could get even with the person who made me angry

34. I keep thinking about what I wish I had done‚ but didn‟t do

35. I find it hard to stop thinking about what happened

36. I am upset for a long time after this kind of situation

37. In my mind‚ I go over the situation that made me angry again and again

1.1. I wait until I am calm again and then talk to the person who made me angry

2.1. In an angry way I tell the person who made me angry exactly how I feel

3.1. I do not show my anger but I talk about what happened with someone afterwards

4.1. I try to understand why I got upset

5.1. I tell myself that what happened is not important

6.1. I get rid of my anger by playing music‚ writing‚ or painting

7.1. I usually do not get angry

8.1. I think that it is not good to be angry

1.2. I carefully think it over and then tell the person who made me angry how I feel

2.2. I say something nasty to the person who made me angry

3.2. I leave the situation and look for someone who will agree with me

4.2. I imagine how I could get even with the person who made me angry

5.2. I try to forget what happened

6.2. I just keep busy‚ until I stop feeling angry

7.2. Even when the other person gets angry with me‚ I stay calm

8.2. I am shocked when other people act angrily

1.3. In a calm voice‚ I tell the person who made me angry how I honestly feel

2.3. I use strong gestures (for example‚ make a fist‚ wave my arms‚ or give a hand sign)

3.3. I leave the situation‚ find someone to listen to my story‚ and ask for advice

4.3. I keep thinking about what I wish I had done‚ but didn’t do

5.3. I put what happened out of my mind

6.3. I work off my anger by doing some sport

7.3. I don’t get angry when other people do nasty things

8.3. I can get scared of my own anger

1.4. I try to understand what happened‚ so I can explain things to the person who made me angry

2.4. I swear‚ or curse at the person who made me angry

3.4. I think about the problem first and then talk about it with someone

4.4. I find it hard to stop thinking about what happened

5.4. I do not want to have to cause trouble‚ so I keep my feelings to myself

6.4. I stay on my own to get rid of my anger

7.4. Things that make other people angry‚ don’t make me angry

8.4. I try to avoid quarrels or arguments

1.5. I stay calm‚ and I try to talk about the problem with the person who made me angry

2.5. I hit or push the person who made me angry

3.5. I leave the situation and call a friend or family member to tell him/her how I feel

4.5. I am upset for a long time after this kind of situation

5.5. I just wait to feel better

6.5. I simply get very busy with other things to get rid of my anger

7.5. Other people get angry‚ but not me

8.5. We don’t act angrily in our family

1.6. I leave the situation in order to calm down‚ and then try to solve the problem

2.6. I express my anger by slamming a door‚ or hitting something

3.6. Even without planning it‚ I usually end up talking about my feelings with someone

4.6. In my mind‚ I go over the situation that made me angry again and again

5.6. I try to keep busy so I can forget about what happened

6.6. I work off my anger by doing something else‚ like playing on the computer

8.6. When I get angry‚ everything feels out of control

2.7. I shout

8.7. When I am angry‚ I feel like crying

8.8. It is difficult not to cry when I am angry