Investigation of the effect of an emotional expression psychoeducation program on anger expression and anger control in university students: A mixed-design, control-group study

Aim: This study was conducted to examine the effect of an emotional expression psychoeducation program on anger expression and anger control in university students. Materials and Methods: An exploratory sequential design, which is one of the mixed method designs in which qualitative and quantitative research methods are used together, was employed in the study.The study was conducted between March and September 2021 in Hakkari University Health Vocational Higher School. The population of the research consisted of students who resided in Hakkari province and were registered in Hakkari University Health Vocational Higher School. To create the emotional expression psychoeducation program, the data were collected online via "Google meet" from 15 Health Vocational Higher School students, who were determined with maximum diversity sampling using the qualitative method. Data were collected through a semi-structured form consisting of ten questions and seven sub-questions. Content analysis method was used in the evaluation of data. The analysis of the data was conducted on the MAXQDA 2020 software package. As a result of the qualitative findings, the content of psychoeducation program was created. The sample size for the emotional expression psychoeducation program was calculated using the G-power software. A total of 49 students, 25 in experimental and 24 in control groups, were included in the study. A Personal Information Form, the Berkeley Emotional Expression Scale, and the Trait Anger and the Anger Expression Style Scale were used as data collection forms. The psychoeducation program consisting of 5 weeks and 10 sessions was applied to the experimental group. SPSS 25.0 statistical analysis software was used in the analysis of the data. Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, independent samples t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) test for repeated measurements were used in the analysis. Measurements were conducted before the education, after the education, and at a 1-month follow-up. Results: With the codes obtained from the qualitative research conducted for the creation of the emotional expression psychoeducation program, four themes were identified: "relationships/approaches, emotions, problems experienced, and behaviors accompanying emotions". The time-dependent intra-group comparisons of the mean scores obtained by students in the experimental and control groups from the trait anger, total anger expression, and the sub-dimensions of anger expression scale and the emotional expressiveness sub-dimension, impulse strength sub-dimension, and concealment sub-dimension of the Berkeley emotional expression scale did not show a statistical difference (p>0.05). A statistically significant difference was found between the mean scores of the experimental and control group students on the Berkeley emotional expression scale and impulse strength sub-dimension according to time series (p<0.05). In addition, the inter-group comparison of the mean 1-month follow-up scores of the experimental and control groups on the emotional expressiveness sub-dimension indicated a significant difference (p<0.05). Conclusion: As a result, in in-depth qualitative interviews, it was determined that students could not express their emotions, aggression and tendency to violence were determined in their expression of emotions, and they compared their destructive behavior and emotional expression problems to the behaviors and expressions of their family members. According to the findings obtained in the research, it was determined that students could not express their feelings culturally. While the emotional expression psychoeducation program that was applied in the study was effective on the emotional expressiveness and impulse strength sub-dimensions of the students, it was found that it had no effect on their tendency to express emotions, anger expression, and anger control levels. Keywords: Emotional expression, anger expression, anger control, psychoeducation, university student.