Occupational health coaching for job stress management among technical college teachers: Implications for educational administrators.

BACKGROUND: The need for stress management strategies has been empirically investigated and supported considering demands in workplaces. However, some people in public offices do not seem to have been exposed to occupational health strategies that could reduce the adverse impacts of stress on job productivity and quality of life. Consequently, they become susceptible to mental health disturbances requiring the attention of occupational therapists. Given this, we studied the impact of occupational health coaching for job stress management among technical college teachers. METHODS: Using a randomized control design study, 90 technical college teachers were screened and ready to participate. The eligible teachers were included and assigned to intervention and control groups. An occupational stress index was given to the participants before, immediately after, and 2 months after the delivery of occupational coaching program by career counselors while the comparison group received no intervention. Data collected were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance analysis. RESULTS: The results showed a significant improvement in the management of job stress after receiving rational emotive occupational health coaching. According to the multivariate analysis of variance analysis, there were between-group differences immediately after the intervention and 3 months later. As a result, the study suggested that career counselors and school management systems should incorporate rational-emotive behavioral therapy into workforce and workplace programs.

School-based intervention for academic stress management and school adjustment among industrial technical education students: Implications for educational administrators.

BACKGROUND: The high level of academic stress and maladjustment in the school environment led to this study to investigate the management of academic stress and school adjustment among university students using rational emotive behavioral therapy. METHODS: The study adopted a pretest-posttest control group design. A total of 97 students participated in the study and were measured using an academic stress scale and academic adjustment scale at 3 points. RESULTS: The results of the multivariate statistics indicated the improvement in the management of academic stress and academic adjustment among Industrial Technical Education students following their participation in the rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) treatment and those in the waitlisted control group (WCG) at 3 points. After the treatment, a second assessment shows that the REBT treatment had a significant effect on improvement in academic stress management and academic adjustment among Industrial Technical Education students and was subsequently sustained at follow-up assessment. It was also found that there is no interaction effect of groups and gender. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the reduction in academic stress and improvement in the academic adjustment were due to exposure to rational emotive behavioral therapy. Therefore, school counselors should reach out to students that experiencing a high degree of stress and maladjustment and assist them using rational emotive behavioral therapy.

Occupational health intervention for work-life balance and burnout management among teachers in rural communities.

This study examined the efficacy of the occupational health model of rational emotive behavioral on work-life balance (WLB) and burnout management (BOM) among public school teachers. The study was a pretest-posttest randomized control group design. The participants were 141 teachers in rural communities in Enugu state Nigeria drawn with emphasis on inclusion criteria. Two instruments were used for the data. Data were analyzed using repeated measure analysis of variance. The result showed that rational emotive occupational health coaching (REOHC) led to a significant increase in the management of WLB and burnout among teachers compared to their counterparts in the control group. At the follow-up stage, REOHC proved to be effective over a period of 3 months. REOHC is a therapeutic intervention strategy that is valid and reliable over time in the management of WLB and BOM among teachers. The researchers are optimistic that the extension of REOHC to other related social and psychological-based self-defeating belief by social workers, psychologists, counselors, and employers of labors can enhance their productivity and emotionality in the home and workplace.

Effect of cognitive behavioral active engagement training on test item construction skills among primary school teachers in Nigeria: Implication for educational policy makers.

BACKGROUND: Most classroom teachers are weak in constructing test items for assessment of students. This study examined the effects of cognitive behavioral active engagement training on test items construction skills among primary school teachers in Nigeria. METHODS: We adopted a randomized pretest-posttest control group design. A total of 148 participants served as the study sample. One instrument was used for data collection. The participants were administered the instrument at 4 different times. Test construction guide was employed to implement the training. Data analysis was completed using analysis of covariance. RESULTS: The researchers found that cognitive behavioral active engagement training had a significant effect on participants' test items construction scores as measured by test construction skills inventory at posttest, first and second follow-up stages. CONCLUSION: The researchers concluded that cognitive behavioral active engagement training is efficacious in the improvement of test items construction skills among primary school teachers in Nigeria.

Effectiveness of music therapy with relaxation technique on stress management as measured by perceived stress scale.

BACKGROUND: Living in Nigerian environment is enough stress. In our time, many students could not cope with the stress of school environment like ours and others are still suffering from different health problems attributed to stress. Based on this, we investigated the effect of music therapy with relaxation technique on stress management among university students in southeastern Nigeria. METHODS: Participants for the study were 142 university students in the Southeastern Nigeria. Perceived stress scale (PSS) was used to measure the symptoms of stress. Statistical tool used was repeated measures with analysis of variance (ANOVA) to ascertain the effectiveness of music therapy with relaxation. Among other tools used was Partial η to examine the effect sizes and level of changes inthemanagement of stress across groups. RESULTS: The finding indicated that there were no baseline differences in levels of stress management between participants in the treatment and waitlist control conditions. Results revealed significant improvement in stress management for participants in the music therapy with relaxation group, whereas the waitlist control group showed no significant change in their score over the same period. Furthermore, the positive effect of music therapy with relaxation was maintained at follow-up. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that the efficacy of music therapy with relaxation technique for improving the students' stress management can be consistent at follow-up. Hence, music therapists, counsellors and psychotherapists should continue to investigate the beneficial effects of music therapy with relaxation on stress management among university students in every part of the world.