SOCIAL SKILLS AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

The university experience involves academic, social, and interpersonal demands that may affect students’ mental health. In this context, social skills (SS) constitute repertoires potentially related to how university students cope with these demands. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between SS and indicators of depression, anxiety, and stress in university students. This is an integrative literature review, conducted according to the steps proposed by Whittemore and Knafl. The search was carried out in the PubMed, Scopus, SciELO, and Virtual Health Library databases, including articles published between January 2022 and August 2026, in Portuguese and English. Original empirical studies with undergraduate students that evaluated SS or Social Skills Training (SST) interventions together with indicators of depression, anxiety, or stress were included. Following the selection process, 10 articles comprised the review corpus. The results showed a predominance of observational studies and a smaller number of intervention studies.  Stress was the most frequently investigated indicator, followed by depression and anxiety. Observational studies identified associations between more developed SS repertoires and lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, although the findings were not uniform. Relationships with academic adjustment, self-efficacy, and characteristics of the university context were also observed. In intervention studies, the development of SS was mainly accompanied by reductions in stress and depression, while the results regarding anxiety were less consistent. The findings indicate that social skills constitute a relevant dimension for understanding mental health in higher education and may support institutional strategies aimed at addressing students’ academic and interpersonal demands.