Anger Management Programmes and Reduction of Aggressive Behaviour Among Secondary School Students in Osun State

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a structured anger management programme in reducing aggressive behaviour among secondary school students in Osun State, South West Nigeria. Aggressive behaviour in Nigerian secondary schools, including verbal confrontations, physical altercations, and property destruction, disrupts learning, endangers safety, and strains school resources. The study employs a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design, involving 100 students identified with elevated aggression profiles from six secondary schools in Ede North and Ilesa West Local Government Areas. The experimental group received ten group sessions of an anger management programme incorporating psychoeducation, emotion regulation skills, and conflict de-escalation techniques. The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and a teacher-rated behaviour checklist were used as instruments. Data were analysed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and analysis of covariance. Results indicate that students in the anger management programme demonstrated significant reductions in physical aggression, verbal aggression, and hostile attribution scores compared to the control group. Gains were maintained at a six-week follow-up assessment. Role-play practice and emotion identification exercises were identified by students as the most practical programme components. These findings support structured anger management as a viable school-based intervention for managing aggression in the Nigerian context. The Osun State Secondary Schools Management Board is advised to train school counsellors in delivering structured anger management programmes and to identify aggressive behaviour early through routine teacher referral protocols. Keywords: anger management, aggressive behaviour, secondary school, Osun State, behaviour intervention.