Depression Tendencies, Social Skills, and Loneliness among College Students in Yogyakarta

Alya Fauziyyah; Sutarimah Ampuni

doi:10.22146/jpsi.36324

Depression Tendencies, Social Skills, and Loneliness among College Students in Yogyakarta

Alya Fauziyyah, Sutarimah Ampuni

(Submitted 11 June 2018)

(Published 2 August 2018)

Abstract

This research aimed to examine the role of social skills in depression among college students through the mediation of loneliness. As many as 645 college students in Yogyakarta (Male = 180, Female = 465) participated in this study. Social skills were measured using the Social Skills Scale, depression was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and loneliness was measured using UCLA Loneliness Scale version 3, which were adapted into Bahasa Indonesia. Regression analysis with a simple mediation model showed that, as expected, social skills negatively contributed to depression with the mediation of loneliness. This means that lower social skills were associated with higher loneliness and in turn contributed to an increasing tendency towards depression among college students. Additional analysis found that levels of social skills, loneliness, and depression differed among college students in different years, with students in the fifth years and after being lower on social skills and higher on loneliness and depression. Furthermore, it was shown that 51% of respondents were indicating depression symptoms which levels varied from mild to severe.

Keywords

college students; depression; loneliness; mental health; social skills

Full Text: PDF

DOI: 10.22146/jpsi.36324

References

Aditomo, A. & Retnowati, S. (2004). Perfeksionisme, harga diri, dan kecenderungan depresi pada remaja akhir [Perfectionism, self-esteem, and depression tendency in late adolescence]. Jurnal Psikologi, 30(2), 1-14.

American College Health Association. (2015). American college health association-National college health assessment II: Reference group executive summary spring 2015. Hanover: American College Health Association.

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edition. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Kesehatan Kementerian Kesehatan RI [National Institute of Health Research and Development, Ministry of Health, Indonesia]. (2013).

Riset kesehatan dasar 2013 [Basic health research 2013]. Jakarta: Kementerian Kesehatan RI.

Baron, R. A., & Branscombe, N. R. (2012). Social psychology, 13th edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Causes and treatment. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. (1996). Beck Depression Inventory-II manual. San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.

Boivin, M., Hymel, S., Bukowski, W. M. (1995). The roles of social withdrawal, peer rejection, and victimization by peers in predicting loneliness and depressed mood in childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 765-785. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579400006830

Cacioppo, J. T., & Patrick, W. (2008). Loneliness: Human nature and the need for social connection. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Chapdelaine, R. F., & Alexitch, L. R. (2004). Social skills difficulty: Model of culture shock for international graduate students. Journal of College Student Development, 45(2), 167-184.

Dill, J. C., & Anderson, C. A. (1999). Loneliness, shyness, and depression: The etiology and interrelationships of everyday problems in living. In T. Joiner & J. C. Coyne (Eds.), The interactional nature of depression: Advances in interpersonal approaches (pp. 93-125). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Fiori, K. L., & Consedine, N. S. (2013). Positive and negative social exchanges and mental health across the transition to college: Loneliness as a mediator. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(7), 920-941. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407512473863

Furr, S. R., McConnel, G. N., Westefeld, J. S., & Jenkins, J. M. (2001). Suicide and depression among college students: A decade later. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32, 97-100.

Gadjah Mada Medical Center. (2017). Jumlah kunjungan klinik psikologi Januari - Desember 2016 [The amount of visits of psychological clinic in January to December 2016]. Institutional report (unpublished).

Garland, M., & Fitzgerald, M. (1998). Social skills correlates of depressed mood in normal young adolescents. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 15(1), 19-21.

Ginting, H., Naring, G., Veld, W. M. V. D., Srisayekti, W., & Becker, E. S. (2013). Validating the Beck Deperssion Inventory-II in Indonesia’s general population and coronary heart disease patients. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 13, 235-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1697-2600(13)70028-0

Hankin, B. L., & Abela, J. R. Z. (2005). Development of psychopathology: A vulnerability-stress perspective. California: Sage Publications.

Harber, A. & Runyon, R. P. (1984). Psychology of adjustment. Illinois: The Dorsey Press. Hawari, D. (2011). Manajemen stress, cemas, dan depresi [The management of stress, anxiety and depression]. Jakarta: Balai Penerbit FKUI.

Jose, P. E., & Lim, B. T. (2014). Social connectedness predicts lower loneliness and depressive symptoms over time in adolescents. Journal of Depression, 3, 154-163. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojd.2014.34019

Kitzrow, M. A. (2003). The mental health needs of today’s college students: Challenges and recommendations. NASPA Journal, 41(1), 167-181.

Kraus, L. A., Davis, M. H., Bazzini, D. G., Church, M., & Kirchman, C. M. (2009). Personal and social influences on loneliness: The mediating effect of social provisions. Social Psychology Quarterly, 56(1), 37-53.

Mahmoud, J. S. R., Staten, R., Hall, L. A., & Lennie, T. A. (2012). The relationship among young adult college students’ depression, anxiety, stress, demographics, life satisfaction, and coping styles. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 33, 149-156. https://doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2011.632708

Michelson, L., Sugai, D. P., Wood, R. P., & Kazdin, A. E. (1983). Social skills assessment and training with children. New York: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.

Natalia, C. B. (2006). Hubungan antara penerimaan diri dengan tingkat depresi pada mahasiswa [The correlation between self-acceptance and level of depression among college students]. Undergraduate thesis (unpublished). Fakultas Psikologi Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta.

Neiger, B. L. (1988). Adolescent suicide: Character traits of high-risk teenagers. Adolescent, 23, 469-472.

Nugraini, I. (2015). Keterampilan sosial sebagai mediator antara hubungan kecanduan internet dan kesejahteraan psikologis pada remaja [Social skills as a mediator between internet addiction and psychological wellbeing in adolescents]. Undergraduate thesis (unpublished). Fakultas Psikologi Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta.

Ozben, S. (2013). Social skills, life satisfaction, and loneliness in Turkish University students. Social Behavior and Personality, 41(2), 203-214. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2013.41.2.203

Peplau, L. A., & Perlman, D. (1979). Blueprint of social psychological theory of loneliness. In M. Cook, & G. Wilson (Eds.), International conference on love and attraction (pp. 101-110). Oxford: Pergamon Press Ltd.

Ramdhani, N. (1996). Perubahan perilaku dan konsep diri remaja yang sulit bergaul setelah menjalani pelatihan keterampilan social [Changes in behavior and self-concept in adolescents with socializing problem after social skills training]. Jurnal Psikologi, 23(1), 13-20.

Reed, M. K. (1994). Social skills training to reduce depression in adolescents. Adolescence, 29(114), 293-302.

Riggio, R. E., Watring, K. P., & Throckmorton, B. (1993). Social skills, social support, and psychosocial adjustment. Personality and Individual Differences, 15(3), 275-280.

Santrock, J. W. (2011). Life-span development, 13th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. Seepersad, S. (2014). Is loneliness just another form of depression? Cited from https://www.psychologytoday.com/ in 9th March 2017. Segrin, C. (1990). A meta-analytic review of social skill deficits in depression. Communication Monographs, 57, 92-308.

Segrin, C., & Rynes, K. N. (2009). The mediating role of positive relations with others in associations between depressive symptoms, social skills, and perceived stress. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 962-971. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2009.05.012

Shiovitz-Ezra, S., & Leitsch, S. A. (2010). The role of social relationships in predicting loneliness: The national social life, health, and aging project. Social Work Research, 34(3), 157-167. https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/34.3.157

Smith, T., & Renk, K. (2007). Predictors of academic-related stress in college students: An examination of coping, social support, parenting, and anxiety. NASPA Journal, 44(3), 405-431.

VandenBos, G. R. (2007). APA dictionary of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Wittenberg, M. T., & Reis, H. T. (1986). Loneliness, social skills, and social perception. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 12(1), 121-130. World Health Organization. (2012). World health statistics 2012. Geneva: WHO Press.

Refbacks

There are currently no refbacks.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.