Trait mindfulness and anger in the family: A dyadic analysis of male service members and their female partners

Zhang, N., Piehler, T. F., Gewirtz, A. H., Zamir, O., & Snyder, J. J. (2020). Trait mindfulness and anger in the family: A dyadic analysis of male service members and their female partners. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 46(1), 15-29. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12384

Prior research has found trait mindfulness (i.e., an individual’s propensity to pay attention to the current moment without judgement or immediate reaction) to be associated with positive attitudes and behaviors, including lower rates of anger. This study examined the extent to which two important aspects of mindfulness, nonjudging and nonreactivity, were associated with expressions of anger in military parents, given that anger issues can be a challenge among military personnel who return home after experiencing a deployment. Couples, composed of at-home mothers and National Guard/Reserve fathers, from 155 military families completed questionnaires on various facets of mindfulness and then engaged in a video-recorded disagreement to measure expressions of anger. The results suggest that only nonreactivity is related to fewer expressions of anger during conflict for both partners.

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