Examining the impact of randomized control intervention on depressive symptoms in schoolchildren with atypical behaviors.

BACKGROUND: The need to investigate depression among disadvantaged groups motivated this study. This study investigated the impacts of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) on depressive symptoms in schoolchildren with atypical behaviors in Enugu State Nigeria. METHOD: A group randomized controlled design was used to assign 37 schoolchildren to the intervention group and 37 schoolchildren to the waitlisted control group. These people were evaluated at three times (pretest, post-test, and later test) using a dependent measure. The outcome demonstrated that there was no discernible difference between the participants in the treatment group and those in the waitlisted control group at the time of the pretest. The post-treatment test results revealed a considerable improvement among participants as a result of REBT therapy. RESULTS: The later test result revealed that the treatment's significant improvement was maintained in favor of the REBT group. The outcome of REBT treatment was not moderated due to location. The data showed a significant interaction impact on participants' depression levels in relation to the interaction between groups and gender during therapy. CONCLUSION: Following the outcomes, we concluded that REBT is a long-term efficacious intervention for treating depressive symptoms in schoolchildren with atypical behaviors in Enugu State Nigeria regardless of location and gender.

Efficacy of rational emotive digital storytelling intervention on knowledge and risk perception of HIV/AIDS among schoolchildren in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: This investigation was aimed at determining the efficacy of a rational emotive digital storytelling (REDStory) therapy on knowledge and perception of risk of HIV/AIDS among schoolchildren in Enugu State, Nigeria. METHODS: The researchers adopted a group randomized controlled trial design involving a pretest, posttest, and follow-up design involving a treatment group and a waiting-list control group. Participants were 80 junior secondary schoolchildren attending public and private schools who met the criteria for inclusion in the sample of this study. The REDStory intervention program lasted for 8-week duration of REDStory therapy. The HIV Knowledge Questionnaire and the Perceived Risk of HIV Scale (PRHS) were used for data collection for this study. Repeated measures analysis of variance and t test were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The results revealed that REDStory therapy had a significant effect in increasing knowledge level and perceived risk of HIV among schoolchildren compared to those in waitlisted control group. Lastly, the positive benefits of this study were significantly sustained by the treatment group at the follow-up. CONCLUSION: The current study therefore suggests the use of REDStory therapy in increasing knowledge and perception of risk of HIV/AIDS among schoolchildren in Enugu, Nigeria.