The study investigated Academic and Environmental Stress as Predictors of Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. The need for the study came as a result of increasing rate of poor academic achievement of secondary school students in the study area to which the researchers sought to find solutions. It was guided by two research questions and two corresponding null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The research design used for the study was correlation survey design. The population of the study comprised the entire four hundred and sixty secondary school students identify from cumulative record folder of SSII students who have performed poor in English Language and Mathematics in the study area. The entire population of 460 students were used as sample. In this case, there was no sample. This is because the number can be managed. The instrument for data collection were three sets of questionnaire titled “Academic Stress Questionnaire (ASQ)”, “Environmental Stress Questionnaire (ESQ)”; and Academic Achievement Proforma (AAP)”. ASQ and ESQ were properly validated by experts in test development and the internal consistency reliability indices of the items estimated at 0.83 and 0.85 respectively using cronbach alpha method. The data collected were analyzed using coefficient of determination (R2) for research questions, while linear regression was used in testing the hypotheses at <0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that academic stress predicts positively academic achievement of secondary school students. Also, the study found out that environmental stress predicts positively academic achievement of students. The findings also revealed that there is a significant relationship between academic stress and academic achievement of SSII students in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that secondary school guidance counsellors should organize seminars on academic and environmental stress on academic achievement of students to help improve academic achievement of students.

This paper assessed the efficacy of a REBT-based programme in the reduction of undergraduate students’ depressive behaviour. Pre-test post-test randomized control trial experimental design was adopted by the researchers for the study. Sixty two (62) counseling, psychology and sociology education undergraduate students who were drawn through proportionate stratified random sampling technique constituted the sample for the study. The students were randomly assigned to experimental (32) and control (30) groups. Depression Assessment Scale for Students (DASS) and Academic Depression Behaviour Scale (ADBS) were used for data collection. DASS and ADBS were properly validated by experts in test development and the internal consistency reliability indices of the items estimated as 0.77 and 0.81 respectively using Cronbach Alpha method. Before the commencement of the testing and treatment package, the researchers assured the participants of confidentiality of interactions and personal information as they work together in self-disclosure. Thereafter, pre-treatment assessment (pre-test) was conducted using the DASS and ADBS in order to collect baseline data (Time 1). After that, the experimental group was exposed to 90 minutes of the REBT programme twice for a period of 6 weeks. The treatment took place between September and November 2021. Post-test (Time 2) assessment was conducted 1 week after the last treatment session. Besides, a follow-up assessment was conducted after 2 months of the treatment (Time 3). Data collected were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. The findings of the study revealed that the efficacy of rational emotive behavioural therapy on the reduction of depression behaviour among counselling, psychology and sociology education undergraduate students was significant at post-test and follow-up measures. One of the implications of the findings is that if undergraduate students are not properly counseled, their depression behaviour will continue to increase. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Federal Government or relevant education authorities should provide enough guidance counselors in the various institutions of higher learning who will assist in the counseling of the students on dangers of depression using REBT.