ABSTRACT

This study examined the effect of Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT) and Time Management Skills (TMS) on the reduction of academic stress among undergraduate students in Rivers State. Seven research questions and seven corresponding null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. The study adopted quasi-experimental research design employing non randomized pretest, posttest control group design. The population consists of all two hundred level undergraduate students of 2017/2018 academic session in the three Universities in the state numbering 1,250 students with high academic stress. The Sample size was thirty two (32) two hundred level undergraduate students with high academic stress. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select one university from the three universities in Rivers State. Purposive sampling was applied to select one faculty from the sampled university. Instrument for data collection was a questionnaire titled “Student Academic Stress Indices” (SASI) developed by the researcher. The instrument had a reliability coefficient index of 0.85 which is considered suitable for the study. Three treatment groups and one control group were formed. Treatment groups were exposed to REBT, TMS and a combination of REBT and TMS. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions; t-test and ANOVA for the null hypotheses. The results revealed that REBT treatment had greater effect in reducing academic stress than the control at posttest. The finding also revealed that the combined treatment group produced significantly better results than the other single interventions. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that students with high academic stress should be exposed to a combination of REBT and TMS for better result. The study concludes that REBT and TMS is effective in reducing academic stress among undergraduate students in Rivers state.