this student population, the effort could will have not only the immediate benefit of helping students refrain from drug use but could also exert long-term positive effects on many young adults.
However, in order for counseling to be maximally effective, it is necessary to fully understand factors that contribute to counseling efficacy or the lack thereof. The proposed research constitutes an attempt to discover whether counselor demographics and type of counseling are contributive to counseling effectiveness and is, therefore, part of this needed effort to maximize counseling effectiveness. Thus, the proposed research is justified.
Although an extensive review of the literature on school-based substance abuse counseling effectiveness was conducted, very few studies were found that involved examinations for whether effectiveness differed in relation to counselor demographics of type of counseling approach (most looked at drug abuse programs rather than any particular approach of counselors persay). Therefore, the existing literature provides little justification for the formulation of directional hypotheses. For this reason, all hypotheses formulated for testing in the proposed study were worded as null theses. These null hypotheses can be listed as follows:
Null Hypothesis 1: Students' perceptions of counseling effectiveness will not significantly differ as a function of differences in counselor demographics of age, gender, race, or number of years spent as a counselor.
Null Hypothesis 2: Students' perceptions of counseling effectiveness will not significantly differ as a function of differences in counselors' type of therapeutic approach. (Behavioral therapy/counseling; Cognitive/behavioral counseling;
Non-directive approach; Rational/Emotive Therapy; Directive approach; Psychoeducational approach).
A search of several databases (e.g. Psych Info, Dissertation Abstracts, ERIC, etc.) revealed that very few ...