EFFECTIVENESS OF RATIONAL EMOTIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY ON TRUANCY AMONG IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN ABIA STATE

Abstract

This study looked at the effect of rational emotive behavior therapy in reducing truancy among in-school adolescents in Abia State. The study was based on two research questions and two null hypotheses. The study employed a quasi-experimental design employing the nonrandomized pre-test, post-test and control group using a 2x1 factorial matrix. The sample size of the study consisted of 32 (13 males and 19 females) in-school adolescents who were purposefully selected from 680 in-school adolescents in Two (SS II) students identified with truancy using Truant Behaviour Identification Questionnaire (TBIQ) in-school adolescents in Abia State in 2023/2024 academic session. The study equally adopted multi-stage sampling techniques. The instrument used for data collection was a 14-item questionnaire titled: Truant Behaviour Identification Questionnaire (TBIQ). Test of reliability for the internal consistency of the instrument was measured using Cronbach alpha statistics which yielded a reliability index of .77 indicating the usability of the instrument for the present study. Stability of the instrument was established using Pearson Product Moment Correlation reliability Coefficient to obtain index of .77. Data were collected in the three phases of pre-treatment, treatment and follow-up periods. The data were interpreted using mean and standard deviation to answer the study questions and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to test the null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings, among other things, revealed that REBT was successful in reducing the rate of absenteeism among in-school adolescents during both the posttest and follow-up periods. It was proposed that researchers should attempt to conduct out more studies to find out more unwanted behaviors for which rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) could be effectively applied.