Effectiveness of a nurse-led cognitive behavioural therapy intervention in the management of substance abuse amongst selected secondary school students in Ejigbo local government area, Osun state, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The world today is witnessing an upsurge of issues that are of global dimension, one of which substance abuse is one. Drug abuse which include alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and heroine has turned many families apart and destroyed lives, corrupted the societal value and prevented many youth from fulfilling their hopes and aspirations.Therefore, the study is to examine the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy intervention in the management of substance abuse among selected secondary students. Methodology: The universe of study consisted of 232 subjects out of which only 129 that were selected randomly completed the programme, it consisted of 70 males and 58 females selected from secondary schools in Ejigbo Local government area through multistage sampling technique. Simple randomization was used in selecting four secondary schools and respondents were selected randomly from the registers of the school selected. The study adopted a quasi- experimental, non- equivalent control group pretest/post-test design with the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Intervention as the therapeutic package and an instrument tagged Cognitive Behavioural Intervention Scale (CBIS) consisting of 53 items was used. Data were analyzed using means test and analysis of covariance (ANOVA). Results: Findings revealed that cognitive behavioural therapy significantly affects substance abuse cessation among the subjects. The therapeutic intervention was of greater efficacy along the gender lines. Conclusion: It was concluded that Psychiatric Nurses should endeavor to accompany the medical regimen with cognitive behavioural therapy in the management of substance abuse to prevent relapse. It was recommended that educational authorities should employ the services of clinical psychologists.