Effect of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy on Psychological Trauma of Students Living in Abusive Home Environment in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Child abuse has become a turbulent situation in our society – particularly Nigeria which has been masked with discipline in some homes, but bears huge psychological problems on the child. It is with the aim of identifying and solving these psychological problems that this study investigated the effect of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy on the psychological trauma of students living in abusive home environment. The study was carried out on Junior Secondary school Students (JSS2) in Owerri-West Local government of Imo state, Nigeria using a pre-test and Post-test group.  Two research questions were raised and two hypotheses formulated and tested at .05 level of significance. The population of the study comprised all junior secondary school students living in abusive home which served as the sample size due to its number being manageable. The instrument for data collection was a researcher-made instrument titled Psychological Trauma Scale (PTS) which was validated by specialists in Educational Psychology and Measurement and Evaluation. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Cronbach alpha which yielded a .81. The research questions were answered using mean (pre-test and post-test) and hypothesis tested using t-test at .05 level of significance. The result of the study proved REBT to be effective in reducing the psychological trauma of students living in abusive home environment. The gender difference in the effectiveness of the therapy was not significant. Based on the findings, recommendations were made which include: Parents and caregivers should be enlightened on the dangers of their abusive relationship with their children.