Abstract

BORTOLATTO, Mariana de Oliveira; BOROWSKI, Silvia Batista Von; COSTA, Jessica Alves da  and  LOPES, Fernanda Machado. Social Skills Training for College Students: a pilot study. Rev. bras.ter. cogn. [online]. 2024, vol.20, e20240448.  Epub Dec 16, 2024. ISSN 1808-5687.  https://doi.org/10.5935/1808-5687.20240448.

Upon entering university, students are faced with a series of challenges that involve academic demands and relational skills. In this new context, Social Skills Training (SST) can be an effective tool for academic adaptation and act as a protective factor for mental health in university students. Thus, the objective of this article is to present the preliminary results of a SST protocol created from a needs assessment and applied to academics at a federal university in southern Brazil. This is an applied research, with an explanatory design, pre-experimental (intragroup), with pre-post intervention evaluation, in which the instruments Social Skills Inventory 2 (IHS2-Del-Prette), Social Phobia Scale of Liebowitz (LSAS-SR), and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21 ) were utilized. The results of 13 participants who completed the SST with 100% attendance were considered for evaluation. The results indicated a significant increase in the university students repertoire of social skills and a significant reduction in symptoms of depression, stress, and social anxiety scores (p < 0,05). It is concluded that the SST protocol represents a possibility of intervention to promote mental health, but its effectiveness must be evaluated in different higher education institutions.

Keywords : Social Skills; Practice; Psychological; Students.

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