Rational emotive education for reducing stress of undergraduate students of religious education program: An experimental study

BACKGROUND: Rational emotive education (REE) program aims to improve the behavioral and mental health of students. This study objective was to evaluate the effect of an REE program on stress among undergraduate students of religious education program in Nigerian Universities. METHOD: One hundred and fifty (150) religious education undergraduates who had high level of stress participated in the study. Participants were assigned to 2 different groups. The treatment group had 75 participants and while control group also had 75 participants. Data collection was done using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) while data analysis was done using independent sample t test and paired t test statistics at .05 probability level. RESULTS: The REE program resulted in a significant decrease in level of stress among undergraduate students of religious education program in the treatment group compared with those students in the control group. Also, the effect of the REE program was maintained during the follow-up among undergraduate students of religious education program exposed to it. CONCLUSION: The REE program can be used to assist undergraduate students of religious education program to manage their stress.