One common trigger is frustration when a child cannot get what he or she wants or is asked to do something that he or she might not feel like doing. For children, anger issues often accompany other mental health conditions, including ADHD, autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Tourette's syndrome.
What is this? Scientists have found that anger can appear in infants as young as 4 months old. Anger reactivity increases over time and peaks at around 18-21 months of age10. This period in toddlerhood is commonly known as the “terrible twos”.
Anger expression and life events were correlated (r = 0.28), and bivariate genetic modeling showed that 61% of this correlation was mediated by common genetic factors.
It has been suggested that physically aggressive behaviors, such as hitting, kicking, and biting, occur as early as around the first birthday, increase and peak during the 2nd and 3rd year of life, and decline in the 4th year of life (Cummings, Ianotti, & Zahn-Waxler, 1989; Gimenez & Blatier, 2004; Tremblay et al., ...
Emotions that can Trigger
Because anger is easier to feel, it can distract you from experiencing and healing the pain you feel inside. Among the most triggering primary emotions is frustration. Frustration is often experienced when you are feeling helpless or out of control.
Anger is present as a key criterion in five diagnoses within DSM-5: Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.
For children, anger issues often accompany other mental health conditions, including ADHD, autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Tourette's syndrome. Genetics and other biological factors are thought to play a role in anger/aggression.
Tantrums and defiance are not symptoms of ADHD itself, but they are often a result of ADHD symptoms. Inattention and impulsivity can make it very difficult for kids to tolerate tasks that are repetitive, or take a lot of work, or kids find boring.
Children who have older brothers become more aggressive over time, on average, than those who have older sisters. Older siblings with younger sisters become less aggressive.
SSRIs that have been shown to help with anger include citalopram (Celexa), fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), among others. Sertraline seems to have the most supporting data. Other classes of antidepressants, like serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), aren't widely used for treating anger.
Common roots of anger include fear, pain, and frustration. For example, some people become angry as a fearful reaction to uncertainty, to fear of losing a job, or to fear of failure. Others become angry when they are hurt in relationships or are caused pain by close friends.
Anger is an emotion characterized by antagonism toward someone or something you feel has deliberately done you wrong. Anger can be a good thing. It can give you a way to express negative feelings, for example, or motivate you to find solutions to problems.
Sadness, guilt, anxiety, and fear are most often the primary emotions that get transformed into anger. As a result of judging and therefore suppressing their full expression, their energy “becomes” anger.
Studies have consistently shown an association between coercive parenting and antisocial and aggressive behavior in children and adolescents3.
Instrumental Aggression
Most aggression exhibited by children ages 2 through 6 is instrumental, with the majority of outbursts happening in fights over materials and toys. Toddlers and preschoolers are impulsive, have limited language skills and are egocentric.
Human aggression/impulsivity-related traits have a complex background that is greatly influenced by genetic and non-genetic factors.
The meta-analytic research by Ackerman and Heggestad (1997) reported a negative association between general intelligence and general aggression as a personality trait (effect size = −. 19), and the same direction of relationship between trait anger and cognitive ability was found by Austin et al. (2002).
The trauma and shock of early childhood abuse often affects how well the survivor learns to control his or her emotions. Problems in this area lead to frequent outbursts of extreme emotions, including anger and rage.