THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL SKILL TRAINING BASED ON COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL APPROACH ON LONELINESS LEVELS AND DYSFUNCTIONAL ATTITUDES OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Dr. Zeynep Hamamcı
Gaziantep University
Dr. Baki Duy
İnönü University

Abstract

In this research, the effects of a social skills training program based on the cognitive behavioral approach on loneliness levels and dysfunctional attitudes of university students was investigated. Subjects of the research was consisted of 12 students attending to the Vocational High School in University of Gaziantep. The UCLA Loneliness Scale was administered to the subjects to determine loneliness levels, and the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS-A) was administered to the subjects to determine the intensity of their dysfunctional attitudes. Both of the instruments were given to the subjects in the experimental and the control group simultaneously prior to the treatment, one week after the completion of the treatment and after six-month interval. While a 10-session group counseling was run with the experimental group as treatment, no treatment was given to the control group. Mann Whitney U test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and Friedman test were used in order to analyze data. According to the findings, when compared to those in the control group, the level of loneliness and dysfunctional attitudes of the subjects in the experimental group reduced at post-test scores, yet, there was not significant difference between two group at follow-up scores in terms of loneliness levels and dysfunctional attitudes of the subjects.

Keywords

Social skill training, cognitive behavioral approach, loneliness, dysfunctional attitudes, university students