Effect of Direct Attention Training on Aggressiveness among Healthcare Workers in Kogi State, Nigeria

This study investigated the impact of direct attention training on aggressiveness of healthcare workers in Kogi State, Nigeria. Quasi-experimental design was adopted for this study. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select forty-seven male and female health workers  in Kogi State. The first stage of the multi-stage sampling process was the selection of two health care services: Prince Abubakar Audu University Teaching Hospital Ayinba and Peace Hospital Ayingba Kogi State. The second stage involved the identification of aggressive health workers using Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). Forty-seven (47) health workers scoring 70 % or higher on the aggression assessment were identified as displaying aggressive behavior. The third stage involved the selection of health care services into experimental group using simple random sampling technique. Prince Abubakar Audu University Teaching Hospital Ayingba which comprised twenty-three (23) participants belonged to Group A  and were given Direct attention training while Peace Hospital Ayingba with twenty-four (24) participants belonged to Group B (control group). The control group were not given any treatment during the study. Data collected for this study were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The hypothesis was analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed a significant impact of direct attention training on the aggressiveness of both the experimental and control groups among healthcare workers in Kogi State, Nigeria. The health workers in direct attention and control groups had mean scores of 92.07 and 91.02 respectively on aggressiveness. On exposure to treatment, those in the control group had higher posttest mean score of 86.91 than their counterparts in the direct attention group (mean = 50.72, SD = 5.81). Direct attention had significant effect on health workers’ aggressiveness in the experimental and control groups (F1, 27 = 208.350, P < 0.05). On the other hand, control group had the higher estimated marginal mean of 87.92 than those in the direct attention group with an adjusted mean score of 51.43. The study suggests that Kogi State should consider employing health psychologists to manage and control aggressive behavior among healthcare workers.