International Journal of Sub-Saharan African Research (IJSSAR)

Background: Research evidence suggests that counselling interventions, such as Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), interact with gender in managing emotional distress, including anxiety, stress, and depression. However, research examining the interaction between REBT and gender in managing students’ phobias, particularly those related to Physics, remains limited.
Objective: This study explored the interaction effect of REBT and gender on Nigerian senior secondary school students’ phobias about Physics.
Method: A quasi-experimental pretest–post-test non-equivalent control group design was adopted. A sample of 70 students (46 females and 24 males) was purposively selected for the study. A phobia scale with a reliability index of 0.73 was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for data analysis. Results: The findings showed that gender had a statistically significant influence on students’ phobias about Physics (F(1, 66) = 110.789, p < .001, ?p² = .627), with male students exhibiting lower levels of Physics phobia than their female counterparts. The findings also revealed a statistically significant interaction effect between REBT and gender in reducing students’ phobias about Physics (F(1, 66) = 10.783, p < .002, ?p² = .140).
Conclusion: The study concludes that the effect of REBT on students’ Physics phobia varies by gender.
Unique Contribution: The findings highlight the gender-related differences in the effectiveness of REBT in reducing students’ phobias about Physics, underscoring the importance of considering gender dynamics when applying REBT to address Physics-related phobias