Effectiveness of SPACE Model of Cognitive Behavioral Coaching in Management of Occupational Stress in a Sample of School Administrators in South-East Nigeria

Stress symptoms have been found to be highly prevalent among school administrators in Nigeria. Management of occupational stress constitutes a major challenge facing school administrators who are in secondary schools in Nigeria. The present study sought to validate the effectiveness of group SPACE model training in reducing occupational stress among secondary school administrators in south-east, Nigeria. The study employed a group randomized wait-list control trial design with pre-test, post-test and follow-up assessments. A total of 65 participants constituted the study sample. Participants were randomly assigned to immediate intervention group (IIG) and waitlist control group (WLCG). The IIG participated in a 90-min group SPACE model training programme weekly for a period of 12 weeks. Three measures were used to collect data at baseline, post-test and follow-up evaluations. Data collected were analyzed using t test statistics, repeated measures ANOVA, 2 × 3 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistics and Post Hoc analysis. Results revealed that participants in the IIG had significant decrease in their perceived stress and stress symptoms compared to the WLCG. No significant changes in the occupational stress indices were found across baseline, post-test and follow-up. Given that group SPACE model training intervention was effective in mitigating perceived occupational stress and stress symptoms, even when the occupational indices could not be minimized among the school administrators, it was concluded that group SPACE model training intervention can be used to overcome negative perception of occupational stress and the associated stress symptoms in secondary school administrators.