Can REBT Reduce Academic Stress and Increase Adjustment in Rural Students?

Abstract

As there are internal and external demands from students to actively engage in several activities in school settings, most of them feel bored, frustrated, and nonadaptive in responding to those demands. This has increased the high prevalence of school maladjustment and academic stress in students, especially among minority groups and rural populations. Based on this, we investigated the impact of rational emotive behaviour therapy on academic stress and school adjustment among students in rural inclusive schools. This study was implemented using a pretest–posttest control group design. After obtaining permission for the study, 94 students who provided consent, participated in the study. These students were randomly assigned to two arms, treated, and assessed three times using two dependent measures. A multivariate statistic was used to test the effect of the intervention on the dependent variables. The results showed a significant effect of the rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) group on academic stress management among students. It also showed no significant effect of the REBT group in improving academic adjustment among students the result reveals that gender is not a significant moderator of academic stress management and school adjustment in schools and no significant interaction effect of group and gender. In conclusion, the application of REBT is useful and beneficial in managing academic stress among the rural student population and calls for advancement. Unlike academic stress, REBT does not have a significant impact in improving school adjustment among rural students.