Yogyakarta, October 2, 2025 – An innovation by students from the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), which initially earned a gold medal at the 36th National Student Scientific Week (PIMNAS), has now achieved a new milestone with its publication in a high-impact international journal. The article titled “PsyBot: A Randomized Controlled Trial of WhatsApp-Based Psychological First Aid to Reduce Loneliness Among 18–22-Year-Old Students in Yogyakarta, Indonesia” was published on July 31, 2025, in SSM – Mental Health (Elsevier), a Scopus Q1-indexed journal with a 2024 CiteScore of 4.2 and an Impact Factor of 2.6.

Reny Yuniasanti, M.Psi., Ph.D., Psikolog, is known as an educator who firmly upholds integrity while actively contributing through professional organizations. Her academic journey began as one of the first cohort of the Master of Professional Psychology Program at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in 2005. She successfully completed her studies despite the fact that the program’s academic system was still in its trial phase.

The Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), and Wahana Keluarga Cerebral Palsy (WKCP) explored potential collaboration opportunities through a meeting held on Wednesday (September 17) in Room D-506, Faculty of Psychology UGM. The discussion focused on potential joint initiatives in research, studies, and the development of sustainable family- and community-based support models.

Yogyakarta, September 15, 2025 – A study titled “An Analysis of Measurement Invariance of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Between Indonesia, Germany, and the USA” authored by Eric Sucitra, Riangga Novrianto, Yolanda T. Pasaribu, Tania M. Lincoln, and Edo S. Jaya has been published in the journal Assessment. This journal is indexed in Scopus (Q1) and WoS (SSCI), with an Impact Factor of 3.4.

The research, which involved scholars from the Faculty of Psychology at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), demonstrated that the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)—one of the most widely used instruments to measure depressive symptoms—can be applied universally regardless of a country’s per capita income level.

The Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), successfully held the Young Alumni Gathering “Pulang: Psikologi Muda Kolaborasi Antar Angkatan” on Friday (Sept 5) at Taman Cinta, Faculty of Psychology UGM. The event brought together alumni from the 2010 to 2021 cohorts under the theme “Returning Home: Remembering the Past, Creating the Future.” read more

The final event of AAI – Strengthening Higher Education System in Indonesia, an afternoon tea reception in the Governor House with Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC.

In August 2025, we joined 27 fellow academics from universities across Indonesia in a short course on Strengthening the Higher Education System in Indonesia (SHESI), delivered through the Australia Awards Indonesia program. The Crawford School of Public Policy hosted the course at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, and gave us the opportunity to engage with policymakers and universities.

Yogyakarta, August 25, 2025 – Not all respondents complete questionnaires seriously as expected by researchers. Some provide answers that appear random or careless. Various statistical methods are available to detect such response patterns. Respondents identified through these statistics as giving careless responses are referred to as misfit persons or aberrant individuals. From a psychometric perspective, what should be done with this kind of response data?

Sheilla Varadhila Peristianto, M.Psi., Psikolog, successfully earned her doctoral degree at the open defense of the Doctoral Program in Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, on Tuesday (19/08). Her dissertation, titled “The Concept of Rasa Rumangsa and Its Relation to the Subjective Burden of Families Caring for Individuals with Schizophrenia”, marked her as the 6,672nd doctoral graduate of UGM.

The Faculty of Psychology UGM and TVRI Yogyakarta are once again presenting OPSI: Obrolan Psikologi (Psychology Talks) with its tenth episode, airing on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, from 3:00 to 4:00 PM WIB. This episode carries the theme “Game Over: The Psychology Behind Video Games.” One of the goals of this episode is to explore in depth the psychological aspects of video games—when games can be beneficial and when they can turn into a dangerous boomerang.

Dr. Bagus Riyono, M.A., Psikolog, faculty member at the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), has once again received an international invitation. After his book Tazkiya Therapy in Islamic Psychotherapy was published by Routledge, the work has now become a subject of discussion in the Islamic Spirituality class at Respect Graduate School, Pennsylvania, United States. read more