Effectiveness of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy for Emotional Dysregulation and General Mental Health Problems in Adolescents

Abstract

The research studied the relationship between emotional dysregulation and general mental health problems in adolescents. It also assessed the effectiveness of the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy REBT in enhancing emotional regulation and lowering the general mental health problems. The is a pre/posttest experimental design and 8 participants were selected out of a larger group of N(14) who were screened by Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (Gratz, K.L. & Roemer, L; 2004) for emotional dysregulation and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 2002) for general mental health problems. REBT sessions were used as the intervention in experimental group (Ellis, Dryden, & DiGiuseppe, 2007). The findings showed that there is moderate significant positive correlation between emotional dysregulation and general mental health problems. The results indicated that REBT has a remarkable impact in emotional regulation and is useful in alleviating overall mental health problems. The study implies implications of emotional regulation trainings to avoid mental health problems and utilization of REBT as an effective educational program to serve the purpose.