Survey of the Relationship Between Online Committee of Friends Meetings, Burials, and Coping With Bereavement Among Nigerians in Ebonyi State.

Online committee of friends meeting is a new trend in Nigeria. There is a continuous online interaction that goes on among the group members. The qualitative research design was used to carry out the study. The unstructured interview method was used to get information from the study participants. It was found among other things that the bereaved read, digest and accept the online condolence messages which serve as a coping tool to the loss of the loved one. Online COF is also a veritable tool in soliciting for and raising funds from online to facilitate the burial of loved ones owing to rising cost of conducting burials in Nigeria. It was concluded that coping with death is achieved in online COF through formation of whatsapp group, condolence messaging, friends digestion of information and acceptance of the pieces of advice raised and as divine will which comes when it will.

Intervention for burnout among English education undergraduates: implications for curriculum innovation.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the effect of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) intervention on burnout among English education undergraduates in southeastern Nigeria. METHOD: The study adopted a randomized controlled trial design. A total of 96 English education undergraduates with high burnout symptoms in the participating universities took part in the study. These were randomly assigned to groups - intervention group (n = 48) and control group (n = 48). The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory for students (OLBI-S) was used for data collection. The collected data were analyzed using 2-way mixed repeated measure ANOVA at .05 probability level. RESULT: Results showed that the REBT program significantly reduced the burnout level among English education undergraduates in the intervention group compared to the students in the no-intervention control group as measured by the OLBI-S subscales. Also, the students who benefited from the REBT program maintained reduced burnout levels when the researchers conducted a follow-up. CONCLUSION: Given the present finding, the REBT program is an effective intervention for preventing and managing burnout among students. The present study has important curriculum innovation implications as far as English education is concerned especially in the Nigerian context. This intervention program can be included in the students' curriculum activities so as to equip the students with necessary therapeutic skills to manage burnout symptoms presently and in the future.

A stress management intervention for adults living with HIV in Nigerian community settings: An effects study.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a group-based cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention among community-dwelling adults living with HIV in Southeastern Nigeria. METHOD: A total of 28 HIV-positive adults meeting the criteria for high perceived stress, anxiety, and depression were randomized into 1 of 2 groups: treatment group (n = 14); and no-treatment control group (n = 14). Stress level was measured using the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). Depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Secondary outcome measure was Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). The intervention was delivered over the course of 10 weeks, using an evidence-based cognitive-behavioral stress management manual. We employed repeated-measures between and within-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Eta squared in the analyses and interpretation of data collected from the study participants at 3 time points. RESULTS: Our results showed that, after benefitting from the cognitive behavioral stress management intervention, the PSS-10 and HADS scores were lowered significantly in the treatment group participants than those in the no-treatment control group during evaluations of post-treatment and 3 months follow-up outcomes. Significant improvements were also recorded in the treatment group participants' SWLS scores at post-treatment and follow-up compared with participants in the no-treatment group. CONCLUSION: The present results suggest the need for further implementation of group-based cognitive-behavioral stress management interventions for people living with HIV. Cognitive-behavioral stress management clinicians should make efforts toward identifying HIV-positive adults experiencing psychological distress and design cognitive-behavioral stress management interventions in order to better assist them.

Effect of rational emotive behavior therapy on stress management and irrational beliefs of special education teachers in Nigerian elementary schools.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: From a rational emotive behavior therapy viewpoint, stress-related disorders originate from irrational beliefs and self-defeating philosophies and attitude. Individuals affected by stress are different from those ones with neurotic problems mainly because the stressed individuals have irrational beliefs about specific, short-term, or more readily identifiable events, in contrast to the more mundane and diffuse difficulties faced by neurotic persons. The present study aimed to examine the impact of a rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) intervention on the stress levels and irrational beliefs among special education teachers in elementary schools in Nigeria. METHODS: We employed a group randomized controlled trial design for this study. Eighty six participants recruited from elementary schools in the South-eastern part of the country were randomly assigned to either a treatment group (n = 43) or no-intervention control group (n = 43). We used the REBT Stress Management Manual to conduct the intervention. Stress levels and irrational beliefs were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Participants in the treatment group took part in the REBT program for 12 weeks and a follow-up program for 2 weeks. Analysis of the data was completed through a 2 × 3 within × between-subjects repeated measures analysis of variance, and independent samples t test. RESULTS: Results showed that the REBT group experienced a significant mean decline in stress levels and their beliefs shifted to rational ones both at post-treatment and follow-up. In contrast, the participants in the no-intervention control group showed no improvements at either posttreatment or follow-up sessions. CONCLUSION: Rational-emotive behavior therapy is an effective therapeutic modality that can be applied by REBT clinicians for the management of stress. Additional clinical assessments will be necessary to further confirm the impact of an REBT intervention on teachers' stress management and irrational beliefs in Nigerian elementary school setting.