National Institute for Health and Care Research

Measure

Children's Anger Rumination Scale (CARS)

Age range 7 — 18
Completion time 10 Minutes
Respondent Self Report
Problem areas
Mood Problems

Overview

Adapted from the original Anger Rumination Scale (ARS; Sukhodolsky et al., 2001), the Children's Anger Rumination Scale examines children's tendencies to engage in anger rumination i.e., repetitive thinking about the causes and consequences of a previous experience which led to an angry response. The measure was initially developed for 7 to 13-year-olds, but has also been tested in 14 to 18-year-olds.

Scoring & Interpretation

The CARS includes 19 items. Responses are on a 4-point Likert type scale from 'almost never' to 'almost always'. Items are summed to create an overall score, where higher scores indicate increased angry rumination.

Psychometric Properties

Internal Consistency

Internal consistency is reported as good, a = .87 (Harmon et al., 2020)

Test-Retest Reliability

Test-retest reliability = .74, (Sypropoulou & Giovazolias, 2021)

Factor Structure

Smith et al (2016) explored a one factor and four factor model. Model fit was stronger for the four-factor model. The one-factor solution was supported in the Greek translation when tested in Greek students (Sypropoulou & Giovazolias, 2021).

Validity

Examples of convergent validity include: Anger rumination had a significant positive association with peer-relational, teacher-overt and teacher-relational aggression, after controlling for age, sex, family income (Smith et al., 2016). Anger rumination is also positively associated with having better ability to maintain negative memories (Harmon et al., 2020). Examples of divergent validity include: Angry rumination not associated with updating memories or shifting between mental sets (Harmon et al., 2020).

Measurement Invariance

Measurement invariance reported across age and gender (Sypropoulou & Giovazolias, 2023)

Access

Not reported.

Citation

Smith, S.D., Stephens, H.F., Repper, K. et al. (2016) The Relationship between Anger Rumination and Aggression in Typically Developing Children and High-Risk Adolescents. Journal of  Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment 38, 515–527 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9542-1https://aimlib.mhid.org.uk/measure/MC9mYxDnftnc8PGyG

Original Reference

Smith, S.D., Stephens, H.F., Repper, K. et al. (2016) The Relationship between Anger Rumination and Aggression in Typically Developing Children and High-Risk Adolescents. Journal of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment, 38, 515–527 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9542-1https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9542-1

References

Spyropoulou, E., & Giovazolias, T. (2021). Investigating the Multidimensionality and Psychometric Properties of the Children’s Anger Rumination Scale (CARS): A Bifactor Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling Framework. Assessment, 30(3), 533–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911211043569 Harmon, S. L., Kistner, J. A., & Kofler, M. J. (2020). Neurocognitive Correlates of Rumination Risk in Children: Comparing Competing Model Predictions in a Clinically Heterogeneous Sample. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 48(9), 1197–1210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00661-4 Sukhodolsky, D. G., Golub, A., & Cromwell, E. N. (2001). Development and validation of the anger rumination scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 31(5), 689–700. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00171-9

Back to Top