Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Violence On Campus: Practical Recommendations For Legal Educators, H. Smith, Sandra Thomas, C.M. Parker

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

Recent rampage killings compel greater attention to anger and violence on the college campus. In each of these tragic mass murders, vengeful individuals sought to address perceived grievances against faculty and/or other employees of the university. In each of these situations, numerous clues of impending violence were evident. Sadly, however, in each of these cases the schools failed to take preventive actions. While prediction of violent behavior will never be an exact science, universities must begin to enact violence prevention strategies. Maintaining an attitude that 'this couldn't happen here' hampers the necessary education of faculty, staff, and security personnel.

Our …

Men's Health And Psychosocial Issues Affecting Men, Sandra Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

Contemporary scholars are calling on men to rethink "the male deal." As Samuels describes it, "In the male deal, the little boy, at around the age of 3 or 4. strikes a bargain with the social world in which he lives. If he will turn away from soft things, feminine things, maternal things...then the world will reward his gender certainty by giving him all the goodies in its possession." But the "deal" can have damaging effects, as shown in the studies reviewed in this article. Clinicians can help men to rethink the restrictions of the "male deal" so that they …

Men's Anger: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Its Meaning In A Middle Class Sample Of American Men, Sandra Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

This study explored the meaning of men's anger, using the methodology of eidetic (descriptive) phenomenology. A community sample of 19 middle-class American men, ranging in age from 20 to 50 years, participated in audiotaped interviews. Two prominent themes, right versus wrong and being controlled versus having control, were contextualized by the world in which masculinity has been socially constructed and emotion is regulated accordingly. Interwoven throughout anger narratives were descriptors of the intense physical arousal felt within the body. Time was an important contextual ground for men's anger experience, with sharp contrasts drawn between anger then and now. Findings suggest …

Age Differences In Anger Frequency, Intensity, And Expression, Sandra Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

BACKGROUND: Although research consistently indicates harmful effects of mismanaged anger, little attention has been given to age differences in the experience and expression of this emotion. It is plausible that, with age and experience, people have less intense anger or learn to manage it more constructively.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this project was to examine age differences in anger frequency, intensity, and expression in a nonclinical sample of students, faculty, and staff who participated in a health fair at a large southeastern university.

STUDY DESIGN: This descriptive study involved a predominantly white sample, ranging in age from 18 to 76 …

Teaching Healthy Anger Management, Sandra Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

TOPIC. Teaching anger management in the community.

PURPOSE. To describe anger management and offer guidelines for assessing potential participants and teaching healthy behaviors.

SOURCES. Drawing from the literature, more than 10 years of quantitative and qualitative studies by our research team, and 5 years of experience in conducting anger management groups, the author presents basic principles of teaching anger management. A model is described for a 4-week group for women.

CONCLUSIONS. Anger management has wide applicability to a variety of constituencies for both primary and secondary prevention. Advanced practice psychiatric nurses are well-qualified to provide this psychoeducational intervention.

The View From The Edge Of The Cauldron, Sandra Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

No abstract provided.

Taking A Triage Approach To Nurses' Anger, Sandra Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

No abstract provided.

Extrapunitive And Intropunitive Anger Of Hiv Caregivers: Nursing Implications, Kenneth D. Phillips, S.P. Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the anger of individuals who have provided direct patient care to loved ones who are living with or who have died from AIDS. The sample consisted of eight individuals who are currently involved in an AIDS service organization in northeast Tennessee. Data were collected using semistructured taped interviews. At the beginning of the study, two group interviews were conducted. Subsequently, each of the participants was interviewed privately. Extrapunitive and intropunitive anger were predominant themes in each of the interviews. Participants also reported ways of coping with their anger. Nurses can suggest …

Relationships Among Perceived Stress, Trait Anger, Modes Of Anger Expression And Health Status Of College Men And Women, Sandra Thomas, R.L. Williams

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

Relationships among perceived stress, trait anger (general propensity to become angry), modes of anger expression, and health status were examined in a sample of 720 college students, using Caplan's conceptualization of stress as the study's framework. Propensity toward anger was assessed by the 10-item form of the Trait Anger Scale (Spielberger et al.), modes of anger expression were assessed by the Framingham Anger Scales, perceived stress was operationalized by the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, and Mermelstein), and current health status was assessed by Ware's 9-item Current Health Scale. As hypothesized, stress was a positive correlate of trait anger and …

Anger Symptomatology, Stress Reactivity, And Health Status Of Mid-Life Women, Sandra Thomas

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing

This study examined psychological, behavioral, environmental, and sociodemographic predictors of health status in 87 mid-life women participating in a longitudinal investigation. Correlates of good health were found to be an optimistic disposition, internal locus of control, education, income, employment outside the home, moderate exercise, and adequate sleep. Variables negatively related to health were stress, external locus of control, packyears of smoking, post-menopausal status, body mass index, and anger symptomatology. Age and social support variables were not related to health status, nor were the anger-in, anger-out, and anger-discuss modes of expressing anger. The regression model accounted for 56% of the variance …