The effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy on social and academic adjustment among Jordan female secondary school students in Jordan

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) as a counselling intervention in education has shown positive evidence in solving some of the school problems such as school adjustment, academic functioning and academic success among adolescent students. However, there is a dearth of CBT application in relation to social and academic adjustment. The current study tested the relevance of CBT to Jordanian adolescent students that accords with the Jordanian educational counselling reforms. The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of CBT on social and academic adjustment among Jordanian adolescent students. The research used a quasi-experimental non-equivalent group design involving 68 female secondary school students. The experimental group underwent a CBT intervention for eight sessions (45 minutes each) in a regular classroom setting aided by a trained counsellor. Whereas, the control group used Regular School Counselling Program for the same amount of time in a regular classroom setting. Data were gathered for pre-test and post-test using SA-Scale by Fudah (2008) and AA-Scale by Nassar (2010) for the variables (social and academic adjustment). The pilot study confirmed the reliability of the questionnaire. A one-way ANCOVA in the post-test revealed that the experimental group shows better significant results compared to the control group for all variables. The significant mean differences were observed between the pre-test and the post-test for the experimental group for social adjustment based on SA-Scale, and between the means of the pre-test and the post-test for the experimental group for academic adjustment based on AA- Scale. The findings have supported the use of CBT in educational counselling which could increase the levels of social and academic adjustment. This study recommends that CBT techniques are updated regularly and conducted consistently to enhance social and academic adjustment among adolescent students.