Group Psychological Counseling On The Intervention Of High School Students In Shanghai And Mainland China

Loneliness is a subjective psychological maladjustment.As one of the common psychological problems of people in an unfamiliar environment,it plays a vital role in mental health of those non-mainland high school students.Long term or severe loneliness can lead to some emotional disorders and reduce the level of mental health.For high school students,it will also impact their academic level and social adaptability,and may even lead to anti-social ideas and actions.Non-mainland high school students come to a foreign country alone.Due to the changes in living and learning environment,they suffer from an increasing pressure in study alone with language barriers,and are more susceptible to loneliness.From an overall view of domestic and foreign academic literature,few research is conducted concerning the high school students' loneliness status,and the study on the loneliness of the non-mainland high school students in Shanghai is even a rarity;besides,the corresponding research is focused on the investigation of the causes and relevance of loneliness.In other words,there is no independent theory and practical mode for the intervention and prevention of loneliness,but only individual intervention from the perspective of cognition.Little attention has been paid to group counseling in intervention research.This research intends to study the loneliness status quo of high school students in Shanghai,in which some high-loneliness individuals of non-mainland high school will be selected to conduct group counseling intervention,It is aimed to explore effective group counseling interventions conducive to reducing loneliness,thereby promoting the sound development of their mental health and providing practical guidance for mental health education of the international schools.This paper,through two studies,gradually explores the loneliness and improvement measures of non-mainland high school students in Shanghai.In study 1,the overall level of loneliness,coping style,social support and self-esteem among 134 high school students in Shanghai from mainland China or overseas,were investigated and compared by four authoritative classical psychological scales.The results show that the high school students have higher loneliness experience regardless of groups and gender.Positive coping style and social support level of the high school students have no group difference;while negative coping style of non-mainland high school students is significantly higher than the mainland ones and self-esteem level of non-mainland high school students is significantly lower than the mainland ones;in Shanghai,positive coping style and self-esteem level of the high school students have no difference in gender,while boys' negative coping style is considerably higher than girls;boys' social support level is considerably lower than girls;loneliness of the high school students has a remarkable negative correlation with their positive coping style,social support and self-esteem.In study 2,forty non-mainland high school students with high loneliness were investigated,twenty of whom were intervened with group counseling.Comparing the results among the experimental group and the control group(35 valid questionnaires were collected,including 17 in the experimental group and 18 in the control group),we find that the effect of group counseling for loneliness intervention is significant.Group counseling therapy factors,including group cohesion,imitation,catharsis,hope reshaping and universality discovery,have a positive therapeutic effect on reducing loneliness.A reasonable group counseling program is the prerequisite to reduce loneliness,and a good group atmosphere plays a fundamental role in reducing loneliness.Members in group counseling can improve their social skills,increase self-efficacy and interpersonal self-confidence in the process of interpersonal learning,which in turn reduces their levels of loneliness and improve their mental health.The following conclusions are drawn in the present study:(1)The levels of loneliness among non-mainland high school students in Shanghai are generally high and there are no significant gender differences.(2)The levels of loneliness among non-mainland high school students in Shanghai are negatively related to their positive coping style,social support and self-esteem.(3)The effect of group counseling on non-mainland high school students' levels of loneliness is remarkable.Specifically,it could effectively reduce the levels of loneliness among high school students and improve their mental health.(4)This group counseling program for individuals with higher loneliness is reasonable and effective.(5)Positive coping style and social support play a complete mediating role in their influence over loneliness.Self-esteem has no mediating effect on the level of loneliness.