EFEKTIVITAS KONSELING KELOMPOK DENGAN TEKNIK MINDFUL BREATHING DALAM MERERDUKSI KECEMASAN SISWA

Adolescent anxiety is a growing mental health concern, with
prevalence reaching 3.7% in Indonesia, yet practical and effective
school-based interventions remain limited. This study aims to examine
the effectiveness of group counseling with mindful breathing
technique in reducing anxiety among students at SMA Model Terpadu
Madani Palu. An experimental method with Pretest-Posttest Control
Group Design was employed, involving 20 students selected through
purposive sampling and divided into an experimental group (n=10)
and a control group (n=10). Anxiety levels were measured using the
Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) comprising 18 valid
items (?=0.731), and data were analyzed using Paired Sample t-test
and Mann-Whitney U test with SPSS. Results showed a significant
anxiety reduction in the experimental group (t=6.444, p=0.000,
Cohen’s d=2.04), with 60% of students reaching the low anxiety
category after six intervention sessions, compared to none prior to the
intervention. The Mann-Whitney U test confirmed a significant
difference between groups (p=0.000). These findings demonstrate that
group counseling integrated with mindful breathing technique is an
effective, accessible, and practical strategy for reducing student
anxiety in school settings