Abstract
Youth incarceration is frequently characterized by high rates of reactive aggression, emotional dysregulation, and behavioral misconduct within juvenile correctional facilities. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of a 12-week manualized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anger Management (CBT-AM) intervention compared to Treatment-as-Usual (TAU) in a sample of incarcerated male adolescents (N = 148, aged 15–18 years). Participants were randomly allocated to either the CBT-AM group (n = 74) or the TAU control group (n = 74). Primary outcomes included self-reported trait anger and anger expression indices measured by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2), while secondary outcomes encompassed official institutional disciplinary infractions and observational behavioral ratings. Assessments were conducted at baseline, immediate post-intervention, and at a 6-month post-release or post-treatment follow-up. Intention-to-treat linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that participants in the CBT-AM condition exhibited statistically significant reductions in Trait Anger (d = 0.72) and Anger Expression-Out (d = 0.68), alongside significant increases in Anger Control-Out (d = 0.61) relative to TAU at post-test. Longitudinal tracking demonstrated sustained psychological improvements and a 38% reduction in institutional disciplinary reports at the 6-month follow-up. These findings underscore the clinical utility of structured cognitive-behavioral interventions targeting emotional regulation and cognitive reframing in forensic youth settings, offering strong empirical support for integrating targeted rehabilitation into juvenile justice systems.
