School Counselors’ Interpersonal Communication and Students’ Psychological Distress

This study aims to examine the influence of school counselors’ interpersonal communication competence on students’ psychological distress and to analyze the role of need satisfaction as a mediating variable. Specifically, this study examines the relationships between interpersonal communication competence and need satisfaction, need satisfaction and students’ anxiety, stress, and depression. This research employed a quantitative explanatory approach using a survey method. Data were collected through questionnaires from 419 students at a private senior high school in Indonesia and analyzed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The Study is grounded in interpersonal communication theory and Self-Determination Theory. The findings indicate that school counselors’ interpersonal communication competence does not significantly affect students’ need satisfaction. However, need satisfaction significantly affects students’ anxiety, stress, and depression. Anxiety and stress also significantly affect depression. Furthermore, need satisfaction does not significantly mediate the relationships between school counselors’ interpersonal communication competence and students’ anxiety, stress, or depression. These findings suggest that students’ psychological need satisfaction is associated with their emotional states, while school counselors’ interpersonal communication competence alone may not be sufficient to explain variations in students’ psychological well-being.