Self-Awareness and Emotion Regulation to Strengthen Mental Health Support Systems among University Students and Communities in Berau Regency

Abstrak

Mental health problems among university students have shown an increasing trend, as evidenced by the high prevalence of anxiety, academic stress, and difficulties in emotion regulation, while access to structured psychological support services within universities and communities remains limited. This community service program aimed to provide psychoeducation on self-awareness and resilience in emotion regulation as an effort to strengthen the mental health support system for university students and the wider community in Berau Regency. The program was conducted on Saturday, November 29, 2025, at Universitas Muhammadiyah Berau through a collaboration between the Office of Population Control, Family Planning, Women's Empowerment, and Child Protection (DPPKBP3A) of Berau Regency and the Center for Gender Studies (PSG) of Universitas Muhammadiyah Berau. The event also marked the official inauguration of PSG and the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the two institutions.

The program employed psychoeducational lectures, interactive discussions, and pre-test and post-test questionnaires as its implementation methods. The results indicated an improvement in participants' understanding of self-awareness and emotion regulation strategies, as well as positive responses toward the sustainability of mental health assistance programs. This initiative highlights the importance of cross-sector collaboration between local government and higher education institutions in developing a sustainable mental health support ecosystem.