Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in Occupational Stress management in a Sample of Teachers of Children Neuro-developmental disorders

Last registered on November 02, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in Occupational Stress management in a Sample of Teachers of Children Neuro-developmental disorders
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006699
Initial registration date
November 02, 2020

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
November 02, 2020, 8:44 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
Nigeria
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Akaneme Nwakaego
Affiliation
UNN
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2019-01-10
End date
2019-07-24
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Welfare
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Abstract
Background/Objectives: High job stress and associated symptomatology have been found to be widely common among teachers of Children with Neuro-developmental disorders (NDDs), with negative implications for the teachers, the schools, and the learners. Managing stress among teachers of learners with NDDs could improve their health, reduce turn over and improve overall school outputs. This study examined the effectiveness of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) in reducing job-stress among teachers of children with NDDs in Enugu state, Nigeria. Method: Participants (N= 63) included teachers of children with NDDs with not less than two years of working experience who were randomly assigned to immediate intervention (N=31) and waitlist group (N=32) groups. Immediate intervention group participants were exposed to 2 hours REBT program weekly for 12 weeks. Three measures were used to collect data at baseline, post-test and follow-up evaluations. Data collected were analyzed using t-test statistics, repeated measures ANOVA and bar charts.
Results: Results revealed that the perceived stress and stress symptoms of the immediate intervention group at post-test and follow up assessments reduced significantly, compared to the waitlisted group. Change in occupational stress index sores across pre, post and follow-up measurements were minimal and could not account for a significant difference in the immediate intervention and waitlisted groups.
Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, it is concluded that REBT is a cost-effective therapeutic approach that could be used in managing occupational stress in teachers of children with NDDs.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Nwakaego, Akaneme. 2020. "Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in Occupational Stress management in a Sample of Teachers of Children Neuro-developmental disorders ." AEA RCT Registry. November 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6699-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention
The REBT intervention program in this study is a counseling intervention meant to counter teachers’ irrational beliefs arising from their experiences of teaching children with NDDs.[44,2] The intervention manual was developed by the researcher using information from earlier studies.[32-34] The manual contained the therapeutic strategies for assisting teachers develop self-moderating skills necessary for stress management. Techniques involved are cognitive, affective, and emotive techniques, relaxation training, and cognitive skills training which were helpful in 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 REBT 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.[32-34]
The researchers adopted the ABCDE model in explaining the relationships existing between activating (A) events associated with teaching children with NDDs, dysfunctional thoughts, beliefs or cognitions arising from those events (B); the emotional and behavioral consequences of the beliefs (C).[45] 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 behavioural problems of children with NDDs, 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.[46, 47, 45] Disputation may involve challenging and comparing the maladaptive thoughts with more adaptive ones. According to Ellis [48] 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 (See table 1).
Intervention Start Date
2019-04-12
Intervention End Date
2019-07-16

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Occupational Stress Index (OSI), Perceived Occupational Stress Scale (POSS), and Stress Symptom Scale (SSS)]
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Results revealed that the perceived stress and stress symptoms of the immediate intervention group at post-test and follow up assessments reduced significantly, compared to the waitlisted group. Change in occupational stress index sores across pre, post and follow-up measurements were minimal and could not account for a significant difference in the immediate intervention and waitlisted groups.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The current study adopted a group-randomized waitlist control trial design with pretest, post-test and follow-up assessments
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
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
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
63 teachers of children with NDDs
Sample size: planned number of observations
63 teachers of children with NDDs
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
31 teachers control, 32 teachers intervention
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
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