Life skills program for improving adolescent mental health in the af-termath Mount Merapi eruption, Yogyakarta-Indonesia

Abstract

The ability of adolescents to cope with stressful life events has not been well developed. Facing stressful situ-ations might trigger them to engage in many dangerous and self-destructive behaviors. Life skills program in improving mental health of adolescents has been proven in many countries, as it has in Indonesia. In post-disaster situation, there is rarely any community program which focuses on adolescent mental health. Life skills program is a psychological intervention to teach adolescents to improve their skill to cope with stress, develop self-esteem, deal with peer pressure, think critically, communicate appropriately and act assertively. Teachers and local health professionals who have already been trained about life skills program apply this program in adolescents experiencing a stressful event, a natural disaster from the eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta-Indonesia. This study attempts to apply and evaluate the effectiveness of the program for adolescents who had survived a natural disaster in Yogyakarta-Indonesia. Three-weeks life skills training was conducted in 2012 on 40 junior and senior high school students, post Mount Merapi eruption in Yogyakarta and Magelang. Subjects were assessed for their self-image using Rosenberg self-image questionnaire, and their emotional-behavioral problems and mental strength using Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), before and after the train-ing. SPSS was used for the statistical analysis. The average age of the subjects was 14.48 + 1.21 years old. There were significant differences on the self-esteem and mental strength aspects of the subjects before and after intervention. Score on low self-esteem was improved (p=0.005), negative self perception also became better (p<0.001), and prosocial behavior was increased (p=0.001). There were also decreasing difficulties and emo-tional-behavioral problem score after intervention, and other aspects of self-esteem such as instability and self-consciousness. Life skills training has several positive effects in improving mental strength and self-image and decreasing emotional and behavioral problems of adolescents post-disaster.