Abstract:

Anger is not for adults alone. Children equally face situations or events that trigger angry feelings or reactions. Calming an angry child can be one of the biggest challenges of parenting. There are many things that make children angry, and children feel anger in different ways; just as adults do. A cross-sectional survey of children in secondary school was conducted to determine the association between family relation and anger in school children. One hundred and seventeen (117) senior secondary school students (SSS 1-3) drawn from a Government-owned school in Lagos, Nigeria participated in the study. About a third of the participants (34%) were in SS1, 33% in SS2, and 33% in SS3. They ranged between 12-18 years in age (X =15.51, SD = 1.28). Family relation was measured using the Index of Family Relations, while the STAS (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Spielberger, 1994) was used to measure anger. The result of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed a statistically significantly positive association (β = .52, R^2 change = .27, p<.05) between family relations and anger. Family relation also positively correlated with state anger (β = .48, R^2 change = .228, p<.05), trait anger (β = .44, R^2 change = .19, p<.05), and anger temperament (β = .54, R^2 change = .29, p<.05). Religion correlated significant with trait anger (β = -.18, p<.05). There was a moderate correlation between gender and anger temperament, and a moderate interactive effect of family relation and age on anger temperament. However, family relations did not predict angry reaction in the participants. The findings suggest the role of family relations on school children’s disposition to angry emotions. It also indicates qualitative difference between angry emotion and angry behaviour, which may require additional conditions to manifest. Thus, intervention programmes that are specifically designed for angry school children should incorporate programmes that target and address family background of the individual, as well as the teaching of strategies for coping with anger eliciting situations.

Keywords:

Family relations, Anger, school children, dysfunctional, family dynamics.