ABSTRACT

This study sought to explore the effect of self-control techniques in reduction of alcohol consumption among in-school adolescents in Umuahia Education Zone of Abia State. Three research questions and three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 levels of significance guided the study. The research design adopted by this study was quasi- experimental design. A total of 48 identified in-school adolescents with alcohol consumption behaviour (24 males and 24 females) drawn from secondary school students made up the sample for the study. The researcher with the assistance of trained research assistants and school counsellors carried out the treatment. The trained research assistants and school counsellors served as contingency managers during the treatment. Two research instruments namely: Alcohol Consumption Identification Questionnaire (ACIQ) and Students Alcohol Reduction Questionnaire (SARQ) were developed, validated and used for the study. This study adopted a systematic four phase plan, namely: pre-treatment phase, treatment phase post test and follow-up. The pre-treatment phase involved preliminary introductions and pre-treatment assessment that formed the base line data for the study. The second phase (treatment) dealt with the actual manipulation of experimental conditions,s post-test assessment and the follow-up helped to determine the sleeper effect of the treatment. The Alcohol Consumption Identification Questionnaire (ACIQ) was used to identify alcohol consumption abusers, while Students Alcohol Reduction Questionnaire (SARQ) was used for pre-treatment, post-treatment assessments and follow-up assessment. Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient was used to determine the stability of the instruments; and reliability indices of 0.86and 0.78 were obtained for ACIQ and SARQ respectively. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha method and reliability indices of 0.89 and 0.89 were obtained for ACIQ and SARQ respectively. Data obtained through the administration of the instruments were organized and analyzed using mean scores, standard deviation and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), which revealed the following findings: Intervention using self-control techniques significantly reduced the alcohol consumption behaviour of in-school adolescents with alcohol consumption abuse; gender as a factor in the study has no significant influence on the alcohol consumption abuse behaviour mean score of in-school adolescents; there is no significant interaction effect of treatment and gender on reduction of drug abuse among students; Intervention using self-control techniques significantly reduced the alcohol consumption behaviour of students and alcohol consumption behaviour at four weeks follow-up. It is thus recommended that school counsellors and teachers should be exposed to seminar and conferences on the effectiveness of self-control therapy on reduction of alcohol consumption behaviour of students with alcohol consumption abuse.