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17 th

BIENNIAL CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP of APECA

7 – 9 OCTOBER 2008, LPMP DENPASAR BALI, INDONESIA

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PSYCHO EDUCATIONAL GROUP INTERVENTION AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: A CASE OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN KOTA

SAMARAHAN CITY, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA

Salmah Mohamad Yusoff & Tan Mei Jian

Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

94300 Kota Samarahan E-mail: mysalmah@fcs.unimas.my, jenice_mj@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to examine the effect of psycho educational group

to improve emotional intelligence (EI) among adolescent girls. Quasi-experimental design had been selected by researcher to investigate this study. 24 adolescent girls from Kota Samarahan City who possess moderate level of EI through the pre-test had been selected randomly to be the sample in this study. 12 of them were categorized as treatment group and participated in psycho educational group intervention, whereas another 12 of them were considered as control group and did not receive any group intervention. 10 modules had been developed by researchers as the treatment tools for the psycho educational group intervention. The findings indicated that respondents had significantly improved level of overall EI performance, but did not have any significant improvement for the four components of EI (perception of emotion, managing own emotion, managing others’ emotional and utilization of emotion) performance. For the control group, the overall EI and four components of EI performance remain and did not demonstrate any significant improvement. As indicated by the result of this study, psycho educational group can improved adolescents emotional intelligence performance. There is a need for counselors to apply this intervention programs in wide variety of settings ranging from school to community, as a simple and safe intervention to improve adolescents emotional intelligence.

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INTRODUCTION

Wilson, Rapin and Haley-Banez (2000) defined group work as “a broad professional practice involving the application of knowledge and skills in group facilitation to assist an interdependent collection of people to reach their mutual goals which may be intrapersonal, interpersonal, or work-related. The goals of the group may include the accomplishment of tasks related to work, education, personal development, personal and interpersonal problem solving, or remediation of mental and emotional disorders.” For ASGW, they focus on four types of group work, which are psycho educational group, counselling group, psychotherapy group, and task and work group. Variety of group work are believed to be helpful to adolescent in making a successful development and growth which are related to psychological and social issues (Gladding, 2003). During this transition period from childhood to adulthood, adolescent grow up physically and mature mentally. They struggle with various psychological and social issues such as coping with crisis in identity, extraordinary peer pressures, dramatic physical changes, impending career decision, the desire for independence and self doubt (Wasielewski, Scruggs & Scott, 1997; as cited in Gladding, 2003). Through group work, adolescents have the opportunity to identify their conflicting feeling, realize that they are not unique in their struggles, honestly question those values they decided to adjust, learn to communicate with peers and adults, learn from the modelling provided by the leader, and learn to accept what others recommended and to give back to themselves in return (Corey & Corey, 2002).

Through psycho educational intervention, adolescents learn the improved way of functioning. They will be exposed to new cognitive concepts, ideas and exploration of their issues. The adaptive behaviours will be explored, discussed and practiced for transfer to school and home. From the healing interaction of the group experience, their self-esteem, efficacy, and emotional satisfaction will be improved (Smead, 2002; as cited in Janice & DeLucia-Waack, 2006 ). In this study, the psycho educational group is used by the researcher to promote adolescent girls’ emotional intelligence (EI).

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

General Objective The general objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of psycho educational group in improving EI among adolescent girls. Specific Objectives To identify the different scores of EI between pre-test and post-test for treatment group and control group (after the implementation of psycho educational group). To identify the different scores of four elements of EI (perception emotion, managing own emotion, managing others emotion and utilization of emotion) for Schutte-Self Report Inventory (SSRI) between pre-test and post test for both treatment group and control group.

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LITERATURE REVIEW Previous Studies on Psycho Educational Group The application of the principle of normal human development and functions, through group based educational and developmental strategies, is the root for psycho educational group approach. This group applied the context of here-and-now interaction. The objective of psycho educational group is to promote personal and interpersonal growth and development and the prevention of future difficulties. Such group is provided for people who may be at risk of development of personal or interpersonal problems or for those who seek improvement of personal qualities and abilities (Wilson, Rapin & Haley-Banez, 2000). Previous study showed the effectiveness of psycho educational groups for various setting, people and issues. The study of Lubin, Loris, Burt and Johnson (1998) examined the effectiveness of a 16-week trauma-focused, cognitive-behavioural group therapy, called Interactive Psycho educational Group Therapy (IPGT), in reducing primary symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in five groups (n=29) of multiply traumatized women diagnosed with chronic PTSD. During each session, a brief psycho educational lecture will be given, followed by an interactive discussion led by the therapist then a wrap-up with an educational emphasis. Subjects were given booklets and homework at the end of each session. Besides that, the therapists used a blackboard to jot down important points in the lectures. The assessments were made at every 1-month interval during the treatment period, at termination and a follow up assessment after the 6 month period using a self-

report and structured interview which measured PTSD and psychiatric symptoms. The result showed those depressive symptoms and all three clusters of PTSD symptoms such as re-experiencing, avoidance and hyper-arousal are significantly reduced. Meanwhile, the general psychiatric and dissocialize symptoms showed near-significant reduced at termination.

The study of Manne, Babb, Pinover, Horwitz and Ebbert (2004) assessed the effect of a 6-week psycho educational group intervention on the distress, coping, personal growth and marital communication of wives of men diagnosed with prostate cancer. The session topics were related to health and psychological information. The study found that there were no differences with regards to the wives’ psychological distress, but it showed some improvement in adaptive coping which is an indication of psychological growth.

The study of the impact of psycho educational group intervention had been examined by Downing and Walker (1987) as well. The study assesses the impact of psycho educational groups for adult children of alcoholics. The secondary prevention intervention had been applied. The group provided a safe place for students to discuss their experience. Besides, the group focuses on confronting denial and educational. Films, discussion and handouts were used. The students reported that since they have a greater understanding of themselves and the disease of alcoholism, they become less responsible for others and more in control of their own life.

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Previous Studies on Relationship of Emotional Intelligence and Adolescent Harrod and Scheer (2005) studied the relationship of adolescents’ EI score and their demographic characteristic (age, sex, household income, parents’ level of education and location of residence). 200 youth ages 16 to 19 from Midwestern high schools participated in this study. In this study, adolescents’ EI was measure with Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory Youth Short Version (Bar-On EQ-i: YV (S)). The study found that EI levels were positively related to females, parents’ education and household income. However, the study did not show any significant relationship between their EI and location of residence or age. Chan (2003) study the relationship of EI and social coping skills among gifted adolescents in Hong Kong. 259 students between the ages of 12 to 16 years from Chinese University of Hong Kong participated voluntarily in this study. SSRI and Social Coping Questionnaire were used to measure the sample’s EI level and their social coping skills. The study labels 6 coping strategies, which are Valuing Peer Acceptance, Involvement in Activities, Attempting Avoidance, Denying Giftedness, Prizing Conformity, and Discounting Popularity. The result showed that social skills as the most important component of EI predicting the use of strategies of Valuing Peer Acceptance and Involvement in Activities. 156 first year students with average age of 18.61 years participated in the study of Austin, Evans, Goldwater and Potter (2005) to examine the relationship between EI and exam performance. The findings supported the hypothesis that exam performance was positively and significantly related to EI score. Similar study was

investigated by Parker, Creque, Harris, Majeski, Wood and Hogan (n.d.) for high school students from Canada. 667 students who ranged from 14 to 18 years old became the sample for this study. The result supports that EI is a significant predictor of academic success. Academic success was found to be strongly associated with overall EI level and several EI dimensions such as interpersonal, adaptability and stress management abilities.

Ciarrochi, Chan and Bajhar (2000) conducted a study about the use of the SSRI in adolescents. 131 students between the ages of 13 to 15 participated in this study. The study reported that female had a higher score of EI than males. They were identified being better at managing others’ emotion and perceiving emotion but did not report being better at managing their own emotions. Besides, there are a number of studies which show that EI scores among adolescents were significantly different between females and males, with females reporting higher EI levels (Brackett, Mayer & Warner, 2003; Katyal & Awasthi, 2005; Austin et al., 2005; Harrod et al., 2005).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Design Quasi-experimental design had been selected by the researcher to investigate this study. According to Chua Yan Piaw (2005), the quasi-experimental design had been used to replace pure experimental design because the division of respondents’ were unable to be chosen randomly during the respondent’s selection process for the studies. Division of respondents is difficult to make because it is impossible for the respondents of control and treatment group to possess characteristics which

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are alike. Moreover, there are studies which have variety independent variables that are unable to be manipulated such as gender, race, age, educational level and so on. Thus, quasi-experimental design suits this study which focuses on the natural characteristic of the respondents, where independent variables are unable to manipulate the objective of the study. 10 modules had been developed by researchers as the treatment tools for the psycho educational group

intervention. The psycho educational group in this study proceed for 6 weeks interval. The first week and the sixth week are for ice-breaker and termination session. The second week until fifth week is for 8 sessions which discussed about the components of EI. Table 1 that presented below exhibit the number of sessions and the theme for each session in this study.

Table 1: Psycho Educational

Group Session Planning.

Number of Sessions

Theme

First session

Unit 1: Ice-Breaker

Second session

Unit 2: Perception Emotion (1)

Third session

Unit 3: Perception Emotion (2)

Fourth session

Unit 4: Managing Own Emotion (1)

Five session

Unit 5: Managing Own Emotion (2)

Sixth session

Unit 6: Managing Others’ Emotion (1)

Seventh session

Unit 7: Managing Others’ Emotion (2)

Eight session

Unit 8: Utilization of Emotion (1)

Ninth session

Unit 9: Utilization of Emotion (2)

Tenth session

Unit 10: Termination

Research Subjects The population for this study is the adolescent girls who have low or moderate level of EI. The population are identified at the pre-test of the study through the used of SSRI. For screening, only adolescent girls between the ages of 16 or 17 and had been identified to possess low or moderate level of EI will be selected as the sample for this study.

The number of sample for this study is 24, where 12 of them serve as the members for the control group and will not receive any intervention. For the rest, they participated in treatment group and received the treatment of psycho educational group approach, led by the researcher. Research Instrument Schutte Self-Report Inventory (SSRI) Schutte Self-Report Inventory (SSRI) has 33 items, with the use of five-points scale self-report instrument that was built by Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden and Dornheim, which based on Salovey and Mayer’s original model of EI (Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden and Dornheim, 1998), with the attempt to assess characteristic or trait of EI (N. S. Schutte, J. M. Malauff & N. Bhullar, personal communication, August 9, 2007).

Statistical Data Analysis To analyse the outcome of the study, paired-sample t-test is conducted. The researcher would make the description analysis based on the statistic outcome. This test is used to compare each pre-

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test score and post-test score to identify whether the changes are simply random variation or if there is a reliable, meaningful change between the two sets of measures (Fariselli, Freedman and Ghini, 2006). In this study, the two measurement for control and treatment group is the pre-test and post-test. Pair-sample t-test was used to test the null hypotheses where the average of before and after rates are equal in the population.

RESULTS AND FINDINGS

Effect of Psycho Educational Group and Emotional Intelligence Hо1a : There is no significant difference between overall score of emotional intelligence for pre-test and post-test of treatment group after psycho educational group intervention. Hо1b : There is no significant difference between overall score of emotional intelligence for pre-test and post-test of control group after psycho educational group intervention. Through the result obtained by pair-sample t-test, the different mean score of treatment group for pre-test (M=107.33, S.D=10.254) and post-test (M=116.08, S.D=9.681) was 8.75. This result indicated that there was an obvious increase for the mean score of EI for treatment group after they receive the psycho educational group intervention.

For the control group, the mean difference for the score for pre-test (M=114.95, S.D=10.254) and post-test (M=115.67, S.D=10.790) was 0.75, which indicated that there was a very little increase for the mean total score for EI. The result indicated that there was a significant difference between the overall score of EI at pre-test and post-

test for treatment group (t=-2.779, p=0.018) since the value p that was obtained was smaller than 0.05. Therefore, the null hypothesis 1a was rejected. For control group (t=-0.307, p=0.749), the result showed that there was no significant difference because the obtained value of p was 0.749 (p > 0.05), thus the null hypothesis 1b was accepted. Effect of Psycho Educational Group and Emotional Intelligence Dimension (Perception of Emotion) Hо2a : There is no significant difference between score of perception of emotion variable for pre-test and post-test of treatment group after psycho educational group intervention. Hо2b : There is no significant difference between score of perception of emotion variable for pre-test and post-test of control group after psycho educational group intervention. The mean difference between pre-test (M=33.25, S.D=3.841) and post-test (M=35.67, S.D=35.67) for treatment group is 2.42 which is slightly higher than control group. The control group obtained 0.33 for mean difference between pre-test (M=34.33, S.D= 2.807) and post-test (M=34.07, S.D=4.619).

The value p for treatment group (t=-1.999, p=0.071) and control group (t=2.105, p=0.749) gained from analysis were greater than 0.05. Therefore, both Null hypotheses for 2a and 2b were accepted. This result indicated that there was no significant difference between the score for perception of emotion variable at pre-test and post-test for both treatment group and control group after psycho education group had been intervened.

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Effect of Psycho Educational Group and Emotional Intelligence Dimension (Managing Own Emotion) Hо3a : There is no significant difference between the score in managing own emotional variables for pre-test and post-test of treatment group after the psycho educational group intervention. Hо3b : There is no significant difference between the score in managing own emotion variable for pre-test and post-test of control group after psycho educational group intervention. For managing own emotion variable, the treatment group had reported a slight increase. The value of mean difference between pre-test (M=29.17, S.D=6.103) and post-test (M=32.17, S.D=3.186) was 3.00. For control group, the mean difference for pre-test (M=32.92, S.D=3.232) and post-test (M=31.42, S.D=3.147) was 1.50, which showed that there was a slight decrease in managing their own emotion performance.

Both the null hypotheses for 3a and 3b was accepted because the obtain value of p for treatment group (t=-1.614, p=0.135) and control group (t=2.105, p=0.059) was greater than 0.05.

The result evidenced that there was no significant difference between pre-test and post-test for treatment and control group in managing their own emotional performance after psycho education group intervention took place.

Effect of Psycho Educational Group and Emotional Intelligence Dimension (Managing Others’ Emotion) Hо4a : There is no significant difference between the score of managing others’ emotional variables for pre-test and post-test of treatment group after psycho educational group intervention. Hо4b : There is no significant difference between the score of managing others’ emotional variables for pre-test and post-test of control group after psycho educational group intervention. Both treatment group and control group had slightly increased score for managing others’ emotions after the psycho educational group intervention. The mean difference of treatment group for pre-test (M=25.42, S.D=3.370) and post-test (M=37.33, S.D=3.200) was 1.912. For control group, the mean difference between pre-test (M=26.00, S.D=3.303) and post-test (M=28.17, S.D=2.657) was 2.17. Both treatment group (t=-1.817, p=0.097) and control group (t=-1.847, p=0.092) gained the value of p that was greater than 0.05. Thus, both null hypotheses for treatment group and control group were accepted.

In other words, the results showed that after the intervention of psycho educational group, there was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test of managing others’ emotions for treatment group and control group.

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Effect of Psycho Educational Group and Emotional Intelligence Dimension (Utilization of Emotion) Hо5a : There is no significant difference between the score of utilization of emotion variable for pre-test and post-test of treatment group after psycho educational group intervention. Hо5b : There is no significant difference between score of utilization of emotion variable for pre-test and post-test of treatment group after psycho educational group intervention.

The mean difference 1.75 between pre-test (M=19.50, S.D=2.505) and post-test (M=21.25, S.D=2.527) was obtained by the treatment group for their utilization of emotional variable, where their performance was slightly increased after taking part in the psycho educational group intervention. As for the control group, the mean difference between pre-test (M=21.67, S.D=2.741) and post-test (M=21.42, S.D=2.968) was 0.25, which could be considered as not having any changes in their performance.

Since the value p t obtained by treatment group (t=-2.008, p=0.070) and control group (t=0.239, p=0.815) was greater than 0.05, therefore both null hypotheses for 5a and 5b was accepted.

This could be concluded that there was no significant difference between the performances of utilization of emotion for treatment group and control group during the pre-test and post-test.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The findings showed that psycho educational group was effective in improving the EI performance among adolescents. This is because the analysis from the data obtained showed that there was a significant difference between the score for overall EI performance at the pre-test and post-test for treatment group after they had participated in the psycho educational group intervention. For emotional control variable there was no significant difference.

The study proved that the EI of adolescent girls had increased and developed due to the effect of psycho educational group intervention. The results showed that after participating in the psycho educational group intervention, the respondents of treatment group had a significant difference (t = -2.779 with p<0.05) for the overall EI performance, with the increasing of mean difference 8.75. As for the control group without psycho educational group intervention, their EI performance remain and not have any significant difference (t = -0.307 with p>0.05). Thus, it can be concluded that the improvement of EI for treatment group was due to the effect of psycho educational group intervention. According to Mayer (2007), emotional knowledge could be enhanced through learning. Emotional knowledge and emotional functions could be improved through certain educational curricula which focused on emotional learning. He encourages people to take a brief course in handling emotions because he believed that this will give a positive effect on a person’s social functioning. Cherniss (2008), EI could be developed through many ways such as practice, ongoing encouragement and reinforcement from others, support

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from the boss, experiential learning, EI trainers and coaches and anticipation and preparation for a setback.

Lopes, Cŏté and Salovey (n.d., as cited in Sala, Druskat & Mount, 2006) viewed that EI consists of four interrelated abilities which are; perceiving and expressing emotions, using emotion to facilitate thinking, understanding emotion and managing own and others’ emotion. These abilities encompass several skills such as reframing negative events and empathic listening. They stated that emotional skills, abilities and intelligence as form of expertise and could be improved through learning and experience.

Mattews, Zeider & Roberts (2004) mentioned that the aptitudes, skills, attitudes and values which are important for the emotional competency development could be enhanced through emotional learning. The authors presented the assumption of Mayer and Geher (1996, as cited in Mattews, Zeider & Roberts, 2004) that it is possible to educate individuals who are poor in emotional competencies to develop and improve their emotional abilities such as better at recognizing their feelings, expression and regulation of emotion.

Although the statistical analysis of pair-sample t-test showed that there were no significant changes for the four EI components (perception of emotion, managing own emotion, managing others’ emotion and utilization of emotion) performances for treatment group after the intervention, the descriptive data analysis through the line graph clearly showed that their performance had slightly improved due to the effect of psycho educational group intervention.

All the null hypotheses for control group had been rejected since there were no significant changes in their EI performance, including the performance for four components of EI between the pre-test and post-test. This can be concluded that without the psycho educational group intervention, the EI performance remain without any changes. Indirectly, these findings indicated that the Module for Developing EI was able to develop EI among adolescent girls. Besides, the validity and reliability of the data obtained from the statistical analysis for the module was high. Through the psycho educational group, the members not only gain knowledge about EI, but also had a chance to learn about how to perceive own and others’ emotion and how to manage them. They had the opportunities to share their experiences and learn from each other and benefit from the group. As a result, their EI performance had improved because they had become more understanding of their own and other’s emotion, and be competent in managing their emotions, and handle situations that are related to emotional problems.

As the leader of a psycho educational group, the leader had attempted to teach the members to learn about the EI skills. The guidance and encouragement from the leader are crucial because this would lead the members to be confident in solving their emotional problems independently when out of group session. Sometimes, self-disclosure from the leader was necessary because it was able to help the members be more understanding about the issues they are discussing.

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The limitation of the psycho educational group that intervene in this study is that one and a half hour time was not enough to allow the group members to learn more. This is because the group spent a lot of time on the writing exercise, which caused a lack of communication among the members. If the group spends 2 hours on the activity, it is believed that the outcome would be better. For future researchers, they are strongly recommended to have a follow up assessment with the treatment group in order to evaluate the long term effect of the group intervention towards their EI development.

A diary as a type of written exercise is recommended to be used by future researchers. The group members can bring home their diary and write any emotions that are relevant to the way they feel and thought towards the group. The diary is periodically read by the leader. Through the reading, the leader will be able to know what would be helpful in the group and understand the members’ feelings and reactions (Jacobs, Masson & Harvill, 2005). This exercise provides a rich source of information to the leader on how to handle the group in a better way thus increase the effectiveness of the group intervention.

If future researchers would like to use the Module for Developing EI that had been used by the researcher, they are recommended to make some appropriate modification to the module to ensure that it suits the group members’ population. Before using a module, a pilot test needs to be conducted first to ensure that the module has validity and reliability.

In short, this study has proven that psycho educational group is a good approach to develop EI among adolescents and able to improve their EI performance.

Acknowledgement: We are sincerely grateful to all the participants in this study. Out thanks also go to University Malaysia Sarawak for the funding and allowing the dissemination of the findings of the study.

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