TRAINING IN MANAGING MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES AMONG SUBSTANCE ABUSE ADOLESCENTS IN PORT-HARCOURT METROPOLIS
Keywords:
Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Dialectic Behaviour Therapy, Assertiveness TrainingAbstract
Substance use is one of the rapidly growing global problems linked to mental health with significant threat to the psychosocial challenges faced by some adolescents in Nigeria. This study examined the effects of “Dialectic Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Assertiveness Training (AT)” on mental health challenges among levels of depressed adolescent students who abuse substances in Port-Harcourt metropolis. Quasi experimental pre-test, post-test research design which consisted of two treatment groups and one control group was adopted. Group one was exposed to DBT and group two to AT, the Control group had no treatment. A sample of 75 Senior Secondary School Two (SS 2) students consisting of 37 male and 38 female were selected for the study using multistage sampling process. The instruments used for collecting data were: CRAFFT, WEMWBS, DASS, SPI, VBQ and VAQ. Two research questions and two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data collected were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The findings revealed significant difference in psychosocial problems of adolescent as a result of the interventions. It also revealed that DBT made impact in the reduction of adolescents’ level of depression than AT despite the two treatment having significant impact in their reduction. However, both male and female adolescents exhibited similar reactions in their level of depression as a result of the experimental conditions. It is recommended that there is the need to identify and manage students who significantly exhibit levels of depression with the four components of DBT.References
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