Progression of anger from childhood to adolescence
1. Progression of Anger from
Childhood to Adolescence
Daniel Hecht
Child Psychology
Dr. Biri
November 24th, 2013
2. INFANCY
• Infants can show signs of anger in as
young as 3 months.
• However, DePaul
University psychologist
Linda Camras says
anger is an
inappropriate word to
describe the emotion
infants are actually
feeling. “Upset” and
“distressed” are more
appropriate words.
3. FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
Facial expressions are the first signs that an
infant is experiencing “anger.”
Infants often furrow
their eyebrows like
adults when they are
angry, according to
psychologist Carroll
Izard.
Izard says that infants also
make their mouth into a
square-like shape when they
are expressing anger.
5. Anger in Preschool Aged
Children
• Anger goes beyond facial expressions for pre-school aged children.
• Temper tantrums are a common form of anger expression for preschool children.
• According to a study conducted by Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine, only 9% of parents out 1,500 surveyed
reported that their preschooler had daily tantrums.
• This means that daily temper tantrums are not common and can be
an early warning sign for emotional problems down the road.
Joel Voss, a developmental neuroscientist at Northwestern University, is
using brain-imaging techniques to link temper tantrums to underlying brain
structures. This can help alert parents of abnormal behavior early to help
fix the problem of daily temper tantrums.
7. Anger differences in gender:
school-aged children show different
signs of anger based on gender
Boys:
-facial expressions
of anger
-more aggressive
Girls:
-try to
mask
emotions,
especially
anger
Both:
-direct anger towards
peers rather than
teachers and adults
This information comes from a study conducted by Coie, Herbsman, and
Underwood (2008) addressing the display rules for anger in school-aged
boys and girls.
11. Overall progression of anger:
Infancy: facial expressions show
anger; anger not quite the right word
but “upset” and “distress” more
accurate
Pre-school aged:
temper tantrums a new
display of anger but
should not be an
everyday occurrence
School-aged: Anger becomes more
associated with gender. Boys display
facial expression of anger. Girls mask
anger. Anger is taken out on peers by
both genders.
Adolescence: Anger transitions into negative
emotions such as worry, hurt, anxiety, and
aggression. These negative emotions can
lead to things such as eating disorders, selfhurting, and social isolation.
12. REFERENCES
• Amussen and Larson (1991). Anger, Worry, and Hurt in Early Adolescence:
An Enlarging
World of Negative Emotions. Adolescent Stress: Causes and
Consequences, 21-38.
• Benson, Etienne (2003). „Goo, gaa, grr?‟. American Psychology Association
Monitor.
• Briggs-Gowan et al. (2012). Defining the developmental parameters of
temper loss in early
childhood: implications for developmental psychopathology. Journal of
Child
Psychology and Psychiatry, Volume 53, Issue 11, 1099-1108.
• Coie, Herbsman, and Underwood (2008). Display Rules for Anger and
Aggression in SchoolAge Children. Child Development, 366-380.