Jurnal Psikiatri Surabaya (Surabaya Psychiatry Journal)
Vol. 11 No. 2 (2022): November

The Effectiveness of Group Psychotherapy on Reducing Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Adolescents

Susi Rutmalem Bangun (Mental Health Installation for Child and Adolescent, RSJ Prof. Dr. Soerojo, Magelang, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
22 Nov 2022

Abstract

Background: Adolescents suffering from depression often have difficulty adjusting to their social environment, even after they have recovered. Group psychotherapy is a method to prepare adolescents to be able to return to the social environment. Aims: The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of group psychotherapy in reducing symptoms in adolescent patients with anxiety and depressive disorders. Methods: This research is quasi experimental design with a pretest posttest one group included 19 children and adolescent patients with anxiety and depression aged 12-19 years which was divided into three groups. The data obtained from Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) dan The 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) reported pre-intervention, 1 month post-intervention and 3 months post-intervention scores on anxiety and depression measures for participants assigned to group psychotherapy. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. Results: All 19 participants who completed group psychotherapy experienced a significant decrease in SDQ, CDI and GAD-7 after the intervention. Group psychotherapy is effective in lowering SDQ scores, particularly on the emotional problem subscale. Group psychotherapy also resulted in a reduction CDI and GAD-7 scores one month and three months after group psychotherapy; however, it was slightly unstable. The decrease in CDI scores was primarily in terms of negative self-esteem and negative mood scales. Conclusion: Group psychotherapy is effective in reducing symptoms in adolescent patients with anxiety and depressive disorders. Keywords: Group psychotherapy, Anxiety and Depressive disorders, Adolescent

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Journal Info

Abbrev

JPS

Publisher

Subject

Health Professions Medicine & Pharmacology

Description

Jurnal Psikiatri Surabaya (JPS) is a scientific publication every 6 months (semester). JPS accepts submissions in the form of original manuscripts, literature review, case reports, and editorials in Indonesian in the format of Enhanced Spelling or English in accordance with the scope of Psychology, ...