Effect of Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy on Adolescents’ Aggressive Behavior

Abstract

IntroductionThis study investigated the efficacy of cognitive behavioral group therapy on aggression among adolescents in secondary schools, Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria.MethodThe study employed a pretest-post-test quasi-experimental research design. Participants included 160 secondary school adolescents from four randomly selected public secondary schools who were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups for this study. Aggressive Behavior Questionnaire by Buss and Perry was used to collect data for the participants. All the formulated hypotheses were tested using the Analysis of Covariant (ANCOVA).ResultsResults revealed that the treatment was effective in treating adolescents’ aggressive behavior. Furthermore, findings revealed that the moderating variables (gender and socio-economic background) did not individually have significant effects on the aggressive behavior of adolescents. The two-way interaction of gender and socio-economic background had no significant effect on the criterion variable; and the three-way interaction of gender, socio-economic background and treatment were not significant.ConclusionIt is therefore recommended that cognitive behavioral group therapy can be adopted as an effective intervention strategy for addressing aggression among adolescents in secondary schools