# Father Trait Anger and Exposure to Infant Cry: Effects on Emotion, Appraisals of Infants, and Cognitive Performance

## TL;DR

The study explores how fathers' tendency to feel anger interacts with hearing infant crying, affecting their emotions and perceptions of infants.

## Contribution

Examines how infant cry exposure interacts with fathers' trait anger to influence emotional states and infant appraisals.

## Key findings

- Fathers with higher trait anger felt angrier and had negative appraisals of infants after hearing cries.
- Infant cry exposure increased anger and negative perceptions compared to babble or control sounds.
- No significant interaction between trait anger and cry condition on cognitive performance was found.

## Abstract

Trait anger can impact emotional states, appraisals of others, and cognition. The study aim was to assess in fathers whether these associations are exacerbated by infant crying.

Three hundred sixty‐eight fathers were randomly assigned to infant cry, infant babble, or a non‐infant‐related control while completing assessments of cognitive scope, impulse control, or mentalizing. Trait anger (pre‐exposure), emotional state (pre‐ and post‐exposure), and appraisals of the infant (post‐exposure) were assessed.

Regression analyses revealed that trait anger was associated with increased angry emotional state post‐exposure, including feeling like yelling at someone, feeling like hitting someone, and with negative appraisals of infant temperament. Fathers exposed to cry were more likely to feel angry and like yelling at someone post‐exposure than fathers exposed to babble or pink noise, and appraised the infant more negatively and as having less positive intent than fathers exposed to babble. Neither trait anger nor sound condition were associated with cognitive scope, impulse control, or mentalizing performance. No significant interaction effects between trait anger and infant cry condition were found on any of the dependent variables.

Fathers may benefit from support to modulate their responses to infant cry. Fathers with higher trait anger may benefit from intervention to manage responses to both positive and negative infant expressions.