Abstract

This study examined efficacy of solution-focused therapies on the management of anger among married Baptist congregants in Ekiti state, Nigeria. The study employed a pre-test, post-test, control quasi experimental research design. Multistage random sampling technique was used to choose the sample. Simple random sampling was used to select two Baptist churches each from different association. Also, a purposive sampling technique was used to select married individuals from different churches around each of the study centres. Twenty married individuals with high anger trait were selected across two associations. They were screened with Fitzgibbons Anger Inventory. The other scale administered to gather data was Clinical Anger Scale. The data for the two groups (Solution Focused Therapy and Control group) were analysed using the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) statistics at 0.05 level of significance. Duncan Post-hoc analysis was also used to determine the direction of differences for significant results. The results showed that there is significant main effect of treatments on married individual’s anger management (F(1, 20 = 363.952, p < 0.05, η2 = 0.945). This means there is significant difference in the mean scores of the anger among married individual that was exposed to Solution focused therapy (SFT) when compared with the control group. This implies that SFT is effective in reducing anger among married individual There was a statistical significant difference between the post-hoc test mean scores in reducing the anger of the married individual in SFT (Mean = 47.57) and control (Mean = 76.9800). There was no significant interaction effect of treatment and gender on anger management of married individuals. Intending individuals to be married or couples should be screened for anger management attitude to determine their status. The Nigerian Baptist Convention should make provision for individuals that exhibit high anger trait to undergo intervention programme that will enhance their anger management skills before the day of marriage.