抄録
This study investigated the effects of social skills training on reducing loneliness. the 18 female students reporting the highest degree of self-reported loneliness were randomly assigned to a social skills training (SST) group or a no training control (NTC) group in the first experiment. Subjects in the SST group received eight 40-minute sessions over a 4-week period individually. Although subjects in the NTC group participated the same 1st and 8th sessions as those in the SST group did, they performed six tasks unrelated to social skills from the 2nd to 7th sessions. All subjects were asked to complete a self-reported questionnaire including measures of loneliness and social skills before and after the training sessions. Their behavior in hypothetical interpersonal situations were recorded in videotapes, and were rated by independent scorers in terms of social skills before and after the training. The second experiment was a follow-up test of the training effects 6 months later. The SST group was found to significantly higher in social skills and lower in the self-reported loneliness than the NTC group immediately after the training but not in the follow-up test.
