2. Methods
The Education Faculty body responsible for research ethics at the University of Nigeria approved this research. Before the intervention began, each history lecturer signed a consent form electronically. Eighty history lecturers from federal and state universities in the Southeastern geographical region of Nigeria with high levels of burnout as determined by the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory were deemed eligible for this study. This study set criteria for eligibility, including: the participant must work in either a federal or state university, must show signs of burnout as measured by an online version of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, participants must not have mental illnesses, must have a functioning Smartphone with a Telegram app and a working email. The research included only participants who met these eligibility criteria.The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory consists of 16 questions originally written in German but translated into English by Demerouti et al.This study used a group randomized controlled trial approach consisting of simple randomization. During July to December 2021, the online intervention and nonintervention groups were assessed at pretest, posttest, and follow-up. The study assessed 154 history lecturers and their eligibility was determined using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. At the end of baseline assessment, we had 40 history lecturers participating in the online intervention group and 40 history lecturers participating in the control group (see Fig. Participant flowchart.First to fourth weeks of the program involved job burnout assessment, relationship building between therapists and participants, education of participants regarding REBT, treatment norm and basic rules of therapy, and creation of a problem list. From week 5 to 8, REBT techniques were used to challenge and weaken the participants’ burnout beliefs, and to develop and increase participants’ rational beliefs. During weeks 9 and 10, the participants were prepared to assume the role of self-therapists in managing burnout; problem-solving skills, cognitive hardiness and resilience against job burnout were also improved. The research therapists provided chats and audio messages in each online session. After 3 months, there was a 3-week follow-up. The study data were analyzed via repeated measures ANOVA in the JASP statistical program.