Dr Kingsley Oriahbure Oaikhena & Prof Elizabeth Omotunde Egbochuku
Abstract
This study explored the interaction effect of Parents’ Socio-Economic Status (PSES) on the treatment outcome of Cognitive Analytic Therapy in the management of socially maladjusted behaviours among senior secondary school students in Benin City. It was guided by one research question and a corresponding hypothesis. The design for the study was a quasi-experimental research design using a pre-test and post-test approach. A sample of 67 senior secondary school II students participated in this study. The Social Maladjustment Scale (SMS) was adapted for data collection. The instrument had an internal consistency of 0.93 using the Cronbach’s alpha method. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics at a 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that there was no significant interaction effect of PSES on adolescents’ social maladjustment mean scores, suggesting that CAT’s effectiveness was consistent across socio-economic backgrounds. Based on the result, recommendations were made, including that CAT should be integrated into school counselling programmes and that counsellors’ professional competence should be enhanced.