International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research

Authors
Obioma-Onyenma OO, Ekeh PU

Abstract
The study investigated on effects of selected Psychotherapeutic approaches in managing dependent personality disorder (DPD) among secondary school students in Rivers State. Five research questions and five hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design involving pre-test and post-test. A sample size of 80 students was drawn from the population of 400 students using the simple random sampling as well as the non-proportionate sampling technique. The Dependent Personality Disorder Questionnaire (PDQ-IV-TR, DSM-IV) was used as instrument for data collection (Adapted from the work of Hyler 2002). Validity of the instrument was done by the supervisor and two experts in measurement and evaluation. Reliability was done via Cronbach Alpha and a reliability index of 0.94 was realized. Mean, standard deviation, t-test, analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for data analysis. Result showed among others that there is a significant difference in the management of DPD behaviour between the groups treated with psychodynamic therapy and those in the control group as determined by their post-test mean scores. Recommendations among others were that counselling psychologists should ensure that they use eclectic psychotherapeutic methods where necessary in order to achieve maximum effects since all the treatments method showed significant positive effects in reducing dependent personality disorder (DPD).