title: Building a Definition of Irritability From Academic Definitions and Lay Descriptions.
abstract: The current work builds a definition of irritability from both academic definitions and lay perspectives. In Study 1, a quantitative content analysis of academic definitions resulted in eight main content categories (i.e., behaviour, emotion or affect, cognition, physiological, qualifiers, irritant, stability or endurance, and other). In Study 2, a community sample of 39 adults participated in qualitative interviews. A deductive thematic analysis resulted in two main themes. The first main theme dealt with how participants positioned irritability in relation to other negative states. The second dealt with how participants constructed irritability as both a loss of control and as an experience that should be controlled. The discussion integrates the findings of both studies and provides a concise, but comprehensive definition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Canada.
authors.forename: Paula C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Barata
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holtzman
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Brian P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Women's Health Program, Department of Psychiatry, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Donna E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Stewart
keywords: affect; definition; interviews; irritability; irritated; qualitative