The Effect of Cognitive Restructuring on School Adjustment of Maladjusted In-School Adolescents in Onitsha Urban Education Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of cognitive restructuring on school adjustment of maladjusted in school adolescents in Onitsha Urban Education Zone, Anambra State, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design to achieve its objectives. Through a purposive sampling technique, a sample of 14 maladusted students was used as experimental group while 16 maladjusted students was used as control group. Two null hypotheses guided the study. In the analysis of the data for the study, mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions whereas Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test null hypotheses. Results show that there is a significant difference in the mean academic adjustment of maladusted adolescent students exposed to cognitive restructuring and those of conventional counselling and significant differences in the mean social adjustrment scores of maladjusted adolescent students exposed to cognitive restructuring and those in convential group. The researchers recommend among others that counsellors and school teachers should adopt cognitive restructring approaches in addressing the problem of maladjusted in-school adolescents.