Social Guidance, Empathy and Interpersonal Skills among Students at SMA Muhammadiyah 2 Medan, Indonesia

Social guidance services play an important role in developing adolescents' empathy and interpersonal skills. However, limited understanding of the relationships among these factors has challenged the development of effective school guidance programs. This study aimed to examine the relationships between empathy, interpersonal skills, and social guidance services among students at SMA Muhammadiyah 2. A quantitative correlational design was employed involving 120 students selected through proportional random sampling. Data were collected using a validated and reliability-tested four-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using regression analysis with SPSS version 26. The data satisfied the normality and linearity assumptions. Regression analysis revealed a significant positive association between empathy and social guidance services (p = 0.015), whereas interpersonal skills showed a significant negative association (p = 0.005). The model explained 87.0% of the variance in social guidance services (R² = 0.870). Empathy and interpersonal skills were significantly associated with social guidance services, although their relationships differed in direction. These findings highlighted the importance of considering students' socio-emotional characteristics when developing school guidance programs. Further research is needed to clarify these relationships and their practical implications.