COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY AND THE ENHANCEMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS WITH ADHD IN JOS METROPOLIS, PLATEAU STATE

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) on social skill of primary school pupils with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Jos metropolis, Plateau state Nigeria. The population consists of 462 primary school pupils in Jos North LGA with evidence of ADHD out of which 20 respondents were selected with the aid of attention deficit hyperactive disorder social skill questionnaire (ADHDSSQ) as a sample for the study. The simple random sampling technique was used to select the 20 respondents that present evidences of ADHD, and were divided in two groups, one group for treatment and one group for control. The instrument (questionnaire) was validated and its reliability established using Cronbach’s alpha method. The data was analyzed using ANOVA statistical method. Three research question and three null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A non-equivalent group pretest and post-test quasi- experimental design was adopted for the study. The result revealed that cognitive behavioural therapy has significant effect on social skill of primary school pupils with ADHD. The findings also revealed that cognitive behavioural therapy can help improve other social skills such as age-appropriate thinking problems, emotional regulation problems, inattentive problems and hyperactive/impulsive problems. Based on the finding the following recommendations were made; cognitive behavioural therapy training on how to work with attention deficit hyperactive disorder pupils should be made available to teachers. Secondly, pupils should be screen by counsellors to check for evidences of attention deficit hyperactive disorder before enrolment in schools