Anger Attacks Rampant Among US Teens, Study Finds
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BOSTON) — America’s schools may want to add some anger management classes to their curriculum. A new study by Harvard Medical School finds that nearly two-thirds of all young people have a history of anger attacks.
The study, which involved more than 10,000 adolescents, found many teens admitting to having uncontrollable anger that prompted them to destroy property or threaten or engage in violence towards other people. The sentiment was found to be two to three times more common in boys than in girls.
As Dr. Ronald Kessler of Harvard Medical School explains, it isn’t just a case of angry teenagers — one in 12 adolescents in the U.S. meet the criteria for Intermittent Explosive Disorder, a mental condition that can have a ripple effect on a person for their entire life.
He says teens who suffer from the anger disorder tend to develop depression and substance abuse problems later on in life and find themselves having issues with work and family.
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