Effectiveness of Cognitive Restructuring Counselling Technique in Managing Avoidant Personality Disorder among Senior Secondary School Students in Sokoto Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the effectiveness of cognitive restructuring counselling technique in managing avoidant personality disorder among senior secondary school students in Sokoto metropolis. Two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Quasi experimental design involving pre/post-test and control group was used. The population of the study was SSS II students in the metropolis who exhibited the symptoms of avoidant personality disorder. Therefore 147 students were identified among the 27 schools in the metropolis with a total population of 12,497 students. Purposive sampling technique was used to select students with avoidant personality disorder. Participants were assigned into experimental and control groups and were exposed to intervention for eight weeks. A validated Avoidant Personality Disorders Test (APDT) instrument with a reliability index of 0.90 was used for data collection. The data collected from the study were analyzed using t-test. The findings of the study showed significant positive effect of cognitive restructuring in managing avoidant personality disorder among senior secondary school students in Sokoto metropolis. This study recommended among others that Cognitive Restructuring counselling technique should be used to address students with the disorder