THE ROLE OF COUNSELING IN COMBATING HEALTH RISKY BEHAVIORS IN ADOLESCENCE

Abstract

The current study investigated the role of guidance and counseling in controlling health-compromising behaviors in a sample of undergraduates in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental post-test-only nonequivalent control group design was used to study the effects of guidance and counseling on measures of health risk behaviors. Seventy-six participants were assigned to groups, with Group A representing the experimental group and Group B as the control group. An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare guidance and counseling and non-guidance and counseling conditions. There was a significant difference in the score for G&C (M= 4.3, SD = 1.6) and no G&C (M = 3.2, SD = 0.33) groups; t (74) = 3.89, p = 0.020. These results suggest that G&C does affect health-compromising behavior. The result has implications for school counseling and risky behavior management. The study recommended that counseling psychologists and school counselors be well-trained in CBT to address risky behaviors, especially among adolescents.