Anger, Hostility, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Trauma-exposed Adults: a Meta-analysis

This meta-analysis synthesizes the available data on the strength of association between anger and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and between hostility and PTSD, covering 39 studies with trauma-exposed adults. Effect sizes did not differ for anger and hostility, which could therefore be combined; effect sizes for anger expression variables were analyzed separately. The analyses revealed large effects. The weighted mean effect size (r) was .48 for anger-hostility, .29 for anger out, .53 for anger in, and -.44 for anger control. Moderator analyses were conducted for anger-hostility, showing that effect sizes were substantially larger with increasing time since the event and that effect sizes were larger in samples with military war experience than in samples that had experienced other types of traumatic events.