The Effectiveness of Anger Management and Problem Solving Training on Reduction of Depression in Prisoners

Around nine million people across the world are imprisoned at the centers of criminal punishment. Almost all these prisoners experience signs of stress or depression. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of anger management and problem solving training on depression in the prisoners of the central prison in Shiraz, Iran.
The statistical community of the present clinical trial included all the male prisoners who had been imprisoned due to robbery. Among the prisoners, 30 were selected and randomly divided into an intervention and a control group (each containing 15 participants). The data were collected using Beck’s depression inventory before, immediately after, and one month after the training sessions. Then, the data were analyzed using MANCOVA.
At pre-test, the mean scores of depression were 28.60 and 29.46 in the intervention and the control group, respectively. These measures were respectively obtained as 17.73 and 26.13 in the post-test and 16.06 and 25.40 in the follow-up test.
The results revealed no significant difference between the two group regarding depression at pre-test. However, a significant difference was observed in this regard at post-test (F=5.9, P=0.02) and follow-up (F=5.70, P=0.02).
The results of this study indicated that problem solving skills and anger management improved the depression symptoms among the prisoners. Thus, problem solving skills and anger management are recommended to be considered for preventing and reducing the symptoms of depression in prisoners.