Effect of counselling intervention on perception of stressful school event among educational administrators and special educators: Implications for medical educational policy

BACKGROUND: The physiological and psychological demands and responses in the workplace, including school settings, are very high among school administrators and teachers. They experience high levels of stress due to several factors, such as heavy workloads, emotional and psychological pressures, and challenging working environments. Consequently, this has a continued negative impact on their job performance and productivity. Some individuals may experience this negative impact more than others based on how they perceive stressful situations. With this in mind, this study aimed to investigate the effect of counseling intervention on the perception of stressful school events among professional educational administrators and special educators in Enugu State, Nigeria. METHODS: The study involved 85 administrators and nonspecialist special educators who were divided into 2 groups: 43 participants in the experimental group and 42 in the control group. In Nigeria, a quasi-experimental design was chosen and carried out. The Teachers' Job Stress Scale was used to quantify the special educators' occupational stress at 3 different stages. Cronbach's alpha (0.79) coefficient was used to verify the scale's validity and reliability. Analysis of covariance was used to examine the gathered data. RESULTS: The study results indicate that counseling intervention was effective in reducing stress among administrators and nonspecialist teachers in special schools in Enugu State. The findings also suggest that time significantly impacts administrators' and nonspecialist teachers' work-related stress. This implies notable differences in participants' reactions to work-related stress at different points in time. Follow-up results indicated that the intervention's effectiveness persisted over time. Gender did not have a statistically significant impact on participants' occupational stress. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that REBT is a therapeutic stress management strategy that is significant in the reduction of work stress among Agricultural and Industrial Arts Educators. Therefore, university administrators should establish a REBT institute where the mental health of staff members will be frequently monitored.