Improving work-life balance among administrative officers in Catholic primary schools: Assessing the effect of a Christian religious rational emotive behavior therapy

OBJECTIVE: Work-life balance (WLB) is an essential precursor of workers’ mental health. The theory of rational emotive behaviour therapy proposes that an imbalance in work and family life may result from people's dysfunctional perceptions of their work and other aspects of their personal life. Also, the constructive philosophies of rational emotive behavior therapy are said to be congruent with most religious belief systems of Christian clients. Therefore, our research examined the efficacy of Christian religious rational emotive behaviour therapy (CRREBT) on WLB among administrative officers in Catholic primary schools. METHODS: This is a group randomized trial involving 162 administrative officers from Catholic primary schools in Southeast Nigeria. The treatment process involved an 8-session CRREBT programme. RESULTS: The scores for WLB of the administrative officers enrolled in the CRREBT programme were significantly improved compared to those in the control group at the end of the study. At the follow-up phase, the CRREBT programme proved to be effective over a 3-month period. CONCLUSION: CRREBT is an effective therapeutic strategy for managing WLB among Catholic school administrative officers.