Effectiveness of Reality Group Counseling in Reducing Academic Stress, Increasing Self-Esteem, and Improving Emotion Regulation of High School Students

Abstract

Academic stress, low self-esteem, and emotion dysregulation were common psychological problems experienced by high school students and negatively impacted well-being and academic achievement. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of reality group counseling in reducing academic stress, increasing self-esteem, and improving emotion regulation among high school students. The method used was a true experiment with a pretest-posttest control group design. The sample consisted of 64 eleventh-grade students of SMAN 3 Klaten who had high academic stress, low self-esteem, and low emotion regulation, selected using purposive sampling. Students were then randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=32) receiving reality group counseling for 8 sessions (2 sessions/week) and a control group (n=32) with no intervention. The research instruments included the Academic Stress Scale (15 items, α=0.89), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (10 items, α=0.87), and Emotion Regulation Scale (20 items, α=0.91). Data were analyzed using MANOVA with SPSS 26. The results showed that there was a significant multivariate difference between experimental and control groups on the three dependent variables (Wilks' Lambda = 0.32; F(3,60) = 42.56; p < 0.001; η² = 0.68). Follow-up tests indicated that reality group counseling effectively reduced academic stress (F = 38.45; p < 0.001; η² = 0.39), increased self-esteem (F = 45.21; p < 0.001; η² = 0.43), and improved emotion regulation (F = 52.34; p < 0.001; η² = 0.47) compared to the control group. These findings indicated that reality group counseling was an effective intervention for addressing psychological problems in high school students simultaneously.