Development and validation of the Redeemer's University Suicidality Scale.

Background: The need for a culturally suitable scale for suicidality within the multilingual Nigerian society necessitated this research interest. Aim: The study is a development and validation of the Redeemer's University Suicidality Scale (RUSS). Setting: South western Nigeria. Methods: This comprised of initial generation of items; face and content validity, item refinement and administration of RUSS to 150 university undergraduates, using exploratory factor analysis at the first, second and third stages. In the fourth stage, 184 undergraduates responded to the 20-item RUSS, Suicide Ideation Scale (SIS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Data gathered at this stage were analysed for congruent validity, reliability and norms. Results: The principal component analysis extracted four components from items whose eigenvalues exceeded one. Twenty-one of the 25 items loaded best in the first, two in the second and one on the third component(s). Only items in the first component were retained. Item-total correlation further showed that the values of one item in the first component fell below the very good discrimination and was deleted from the scale. The RUSS has a Cronbach's alpha of 0.93. Congruence validity coefficient of r = 0.881 (p < 0.001) and r = 0.605 (p < 0.001) was observed between RUSS and SIS and between RUSS and GHQ-12, respectively. Conclusion: The RUSS is gender-sensitive, has acceptable psychometric properties and is recommended as a diagnostic tool for assessing suicidal behaviour in adolescents and adults. Contribution: This article contributes to the development of a culture sensitive measure for suicidality.

Effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy and social skills training in management of conduct disorder.

Background: Conduct Disorder (CD) is a repetitive disruptive behaviour that violates the rights of others, manifests in rules violation, aggression, hostility, and deceitfulness and has assumed prominence in its association with juvenile offending and criminality in adulthood. Despite this knowledge, little research attention is given to ascertaining effective psychobehavioural interventions to manage this problem, especially amongst Nigerian adolescents. Aim: This study examined the efficacy of two psychobehavioural strategies to manage CD amongst in-school adolescents in Ibadan, Nigeria. Setting: Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria. Method: A randomised controlled trial (RCT) of adolescents with CD was performed. Sixteen participants (aged 12-17 years) who reported high CD from an assessment of 1006 in-school adolescents of selected secondary schools in Ibadan were randomly grouped to receive either cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), social skills training (SST) or combined CBT and SST. The Frequency of Delinquent Behaviour Scaling Instrument (FDBSI) was used for assessments. Results: Significant reduction in CD was observed among participants exposed to CBT (t[6] = 8.510), p < 0.05) at 8 weeks, SST (t[6] = 12.728), p < 0.05) at 8 weeks, and combined CBT and SST (t[8] = 12.728, p < 0.05) at the 6 week mark of interventions respectively. Conclusion: From the study, CBT and SST are effective in managing CD. However, the combined psychobehavioural intervention of CBT and SST was more effective in managing CD, based on a faster therapeutic effect than the independent psychobehavioural intervention of CBT and SST.