Rational Emotive Therapy with Children and Adolescents
Title
Rational Emotive Therapy with Children and Adolescents
Author
Gonzalez, J.E., Nelson, R.J.,Gutkin, T.B., Saunders, A., Galloway, A. & Shwery, C.S.
Source
Journal of Emotional & Behavioral Disorders; Vol. 12, n4, 222.
Year Published
2004
Background
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is a popular form of therapy in child and adolescent psychotherapy. It was initiated by Albert Ellis in the mid- 1950s and it is considered the first modern cognitively based therapy used for the treatment of school-age children and adolescent misbehavior. Its basic fundamental principle is that emotional disturbances* appear from flawed thinking about events rather than the events themselves. Treatment begins by building a relationship between the practitioner and the young person followed by problem solving strategies. The next step is to develop treatment goals for the purposes of reducing the intensity, duration, and frequency of disturbed emotions that often lead to problematic results. Cognitive change is brought through a process of systematically examining one’s thoughts and beliefs to asses the degree in which they are true, logical and helpful. This approach leads to the amelioration of disturbances producing a rational and effective outcome. Previous research has studied the effectiveness of REBT, but the results did not provide quantitative estimates of treatment effects or an understanding of the characteristics that either promote or reduce the effectiveness of REBT with children and adolescents.
Research Questions
The major purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the impact of REBT on treatment outcomes for children and adolescents and to identify and evaluate variables that moderate study outcomes.
Findings
- REBT is an effective treatment for children and adolescents with and without identified problems.
- REBT has the greatest impact in decreasing disruptive behaviors in children and adolescents.
- Non-mental health professionals were more effective at delivering REBT than their mental health counterparts.
- The longer the duration of the REBT session, the greater the positive affect it had on the child.
- Children benefit from REBT more than adolescents.
Conclusion/Recommendations
- The limitations of this study should be considered when generalizing the results.
- The number of studies found that met the criteria was small in comparison to meta-analyses of REBT with adults. It is possible that a relevant study may have mistakenly left out.
- The studies included did not provide sufficient information on the characteristics of the children and adolescent beyond their age and, to a limited degree, gender; for that reason it was difficult to assess which children and youth were more likely to benefit from REBT.
- It was not possible to generalize and assess maintenance of treatment effects, therefore it was difficult to determine if the beneficial effects of REBT could be extended beyond the treatment settings or maintained beyond the initial treatment phases.
- Just a few of the studies provided sufficient information to determine if the treatments were implemented with integrity to each component in the REBT framework.
- Peer reviewed studies were only included as a way of addressing the need for a standard of study quality; consequently, dissertations, professional presentations, and ERIC documents were excluded.
- Almost all the studies took place in school settings with children and adolescents that were not referred.
- Several of the studies used a relatively limited variety of outcome assessment measures.
- Further research should explore in more depth the maintenance effects of REBT to determine whether children and youth may need follow-up sessions to reinforce the effects of REBT overtime.