Rational Emotive Occupational Health Coaching in Managing Job Stress among Treachers of Children with Autism.

Last registered on September 16, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Rational Emotive Occupational Health Coaching in Managing Job Stress among Treachers of Children with Autism.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004672
Initial registration date
September 11, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 16, 2019, 2:04 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Nigeria
Region
Enugu

Primary Investigator

Name
Charity Onyishi
Affiliation
University of Johannesburg
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Uche Eze
PI Affiliation
University of Nigeria
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Charity Onyishi
PI Affiliation
University of Johannesburg
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2018-05-13
End date
2018-12-20
Keywords
Education, Health, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Rational emotive occupational health coaching, job-stress, children with autism, teachers
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Abstract
Background/Objective: Teaching has been found to be one of the most stressful occupations worldwide. Stress associated with teaching is more critical among teachers teaching children with special needs in general and those with autism specifically, partly due to the heterogeneous nature of the disorders. Managing job-stress among teachers of children with autism (CWA) could improve their mental and physical well-being, reduce turn over and improve overall school outputs. The current study sought to investigate the effectiveness of Rational Emotive Occupational Health coaching (REOHC) in minimizing job-stress among teachers who teach children with autism.

Methods: A group-randomized waitlist control trial design was adopted. A sample of 87 teachers of CWA who participated in the study was randomized into the immediate intervention group (IIG) and waitlist group (WLG). Participants were evaluated on three occasions: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Three instruments (Occupational Stress Index, Perceived Occupational Stress Scale. and Stress Symptom Scale) were used to measure dimensions of job-stress. After pre-test exercise, the IIG participated in a 2hours REOHC program weekly for a period of 12 weeks. Post and follow-up evaluations were conducted respectively at 2week and three months after the REOHC. Those in WLG were exposed to the REOHC after the follow-up assessment. Data collected were analyzed using t-test statistics, repeated measures ANOVA and charts.

Results: Results revealed that compared to the WLG, the perceived stress and stress symptoms of the IIG reduced significantly at the post-test, and the reduction was maintained through the follow-up assessment. Changes in occupational stress index sores across pre, post and follow-up measurements were minimal and could not account for a significant difference between the IIG and WLG.

Conclusion: Though REOHC was effective in minimizing perceived occupational stress and stress symptoms, the occupational indices were not significantly minimized in teachers of CWA. It was therefore concluded that REOHC can be effective in managing the subjective feelings and symptoms of job-stress, even when the objective stressors remain constant among teachers of CWA and other employees who work under stressful occupational environments.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Eze, Uche, Charity Onyishi and Charity Onyishi. 2019. "Rational Emotive Occupational Health Coaching in Managing Job Stress among Treachers of Children with Autism. ." AEA RCT Registry. September 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4672-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention
The rational-emotive occupational health coaching intervention program in this study is a counseling intervention meant to counter teachers’ irrational beliefs arising from their experiences of teaching CWA. The intervention manual was developed by the researchers using information from earlier studies. The manual contained the therapeutic strategies for assisting to teachers become their own coaches. Techniques involved are cognitive, affective, and emotive techniques, relaxation training, and cognitive skills training which were helpful to the occupational health coaching intervention for reducing stress in teachers.
The “ABCDE” model (Activating event, Beliefs, Consequences, Disputing, and Effective new philosophy) was also followed to change dysfunctional and irrational beliefs associated with work experiences. The major aim of REOHC is to use REBT in “disputing” – challenging and questioning employees’ work-related irrational and dysfunctional beliefs and replacing them with more sensible and functional beliefs.
We adopted the ABCDE model in explaining the relationships existing between activating (A) events associated with teaching children with ASD, dysfunctional thoughts, beliefs or cognitions arising from those events (B); the emotional and behavioral consequences of the beliefs (C). Based on the foregoing, an activating event (A) in the context of the present study could be a challenging situation associated with either teaching and handling behavioral problems of CWA, teachers’ personal experiences, or work experiences; the belief (B) is the interpretation and cognitive imagery formed due to “A”. Such cognition about the event (B) elicits a consequence/effect (C) for the teacher, which may be adaptive or maladaptive. Then, disputation techniques (D) are used to eliminate the maladaptive, dysfunctional and self-limiting beliefs and cognitions. Disputation may involve challenging and comparing the maladaptive thoughts with more adaptive ones. According to Ellis, the best way to counter irrational beliefs is by considering realistic and logical ones. Hence as participants notice and counter their maladaptive beliefs, they come up with more effective world-views (E) (See Figure 1). This ABCDE model formed the basis of activities throughout the intervention.
Intervention Start Date
2018-07-05
Intervention End Date
2018-09-27

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Results revealed that compared to the WLG, the perceived stress and stress symptoms of the IIG reduced significantly at the post-test, and the reduction was maintained through the follow-up assessment. Changes in occupational stress index sores across pre, post and follow-up measurements were minimal and could not account for a significant difference between the IIG and WLG.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
A group-randomized waitlist control trial design was adopted. A sample of 87 teachers of CWA who participated in the study was randomized into the immediate intervention group (IIG) and waitlist group (WLG). Participants were evaluated on three occasions: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Three instruments (Occupational Stress Index, Perceived Occupational Stress Scale. and Stress Symptom Scale) were used to measure dimensions of job-stress. After pre-test exercise, the IIG participated in a 2hours REOHC program weekly for a period of 12 weeks. Post and follow-up evaluations were conducted respectively at 2week and three months after the REOHC. Those in WLG were exposed to the REOHC after the follow-up assessment. Data collected were analyzed using t-test statistics, repeated measures ANOVA and charts
Experimental Design Details
A group-randomized waitlist control trial design was adopted. A sample of 87 teachers of CWA who participated in the study was randomized into the immediate intervention group (IIG) and waitlist group (WLG). Participants were evaluated on three occasions: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Three instruments (Occupational Stress Index, Perceived Occupational Stress Scale. and Stress Symptom Scale) were used to measure dimensions of job-stress. After pre-test exercise, the IIG participated in a 2hours REOHC program weekly for a period of 12 weeks. Post and follow-up evaluations were conducted respectively at 2week and three months after the REOHC. Those in WLG were exposed to the REOHC after the follow-up assessment. Data collected were analyzed using t-test statistics, repeated measures ANOVA and charts
Randomization Method
Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (43 participants) and wait-list control group (46 participants) (see Figure 2) using a sequence allocation software (participants were asked to pick 1 envelope containing pressure-sensitive paper labeled with either II-Immediate Intervention or WLG-Waitlist Group) from a container.
Randomization Unit
Individuals were randomized into two groups
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
28 schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
87 teachers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
43 participants experimental group and 44 participants control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
.14
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials