Relative Effectiveness of Cognitive Restructuring and Contingency Contracting Techniques on Bullying Behaviour Among Secondary School Students in Imo State

This study investigated the relative effectiveness of cognitive restructuring and contingency contracting techniques on bullying behaviour among secondary school students in Imo-state. One research question guided the study and one hypothesis was tested at 0.5 level of significance. The research design was quasi experimental research design. The population for the study was a total of 265 senior secondary students identified with bullying behaviour constituted the population of the study. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 94 secondary students used as the sample for the study. The instrument for data collection was bullying behaviour identification inventory (BBII). Statistical mean and ANCOVA were used in answering the research questions and hypotheses respectively. Results obtained from the study indicated that contingency contracting was slightly more effective than cognitive restructuring technique in the treatment of bullying behaviour, but the difference in the effectiveness of the two techniques on bullying behaviours among secondary school students is not significant. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended that both contingency contracting and cognitive restructuring techniques should be adopted by school counsellors and other allied professionals as a means of reducing bullying behaviour in our school setting. Also, the school counsellors should be trained on the effective use of skills and techniques to improve problem solving abilities. The study was conducted in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State. The population of the study comprised 265 senior secondary (SS11) students that were identified with bullying behaviour in all secondary schools in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State managed by Ministry of Education Imo State. The sample size for this study was 91 students. The researcher employed a purposive sampling technique through which three secondary schools with the highest number of students identified with bullying behaviour were selected from the pool of 17 public secondary schools in Owerri North Local Government. The instrument that was used for this study is a ‘Bullying Behaviour Identification Inventory (BBII) developed by Drew (2005) and re-validated in Nigeria by Odoemelam (2012). The BBII is a 30-item instrument designed to elicit information from students on bullying behaviour as it app lies to them were administered. The instrument has two sections: Section “A” contains the bio- data of the respondents while section “B” contains 30 bullying behaviours that are manifested by adolescents. The Inventory (BBII) has statements and phrases indicating bullying behaviour characteristics. The Bullying Behaviour Identification Inventory ( BBII ) has a test-retest reliability of 0.8 as indicated by Odoemelam (2012) . Odoemenam used the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient in computing the instrument. A reliability co-efficient of 0.8 was obtained; hence, the instrument was statistically adjudged to be reliable and considered suitable for research use. The researchers with the help of three trained research assistants distributed copies of the BBII through direct delivery and guided the students on how to respond to them. After the training programme which lasted for eight weeks, the Bullying Behaviour Identification inventory (BBII) was reshuffled and re-administered to the students. The completed copies of the instrument were retrieved and scored. The scores from the second administration of the instrument were referred to as