Dhikr as Psychotherapy to Overcome Academic Stress of Muslim Youth

First year students experience problems in adjusting to academic demands which cause academic stress conditions. This study aims to determine the effect of dhikr therapy in the form of prayer in overcoming academic stress with a pre-experimental design. The number of samples in this study were 20 students who were selected by purposive sampling method. The measuring instrument used to measure the pre-test and post-test scores is The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 Items (DASS-21) which has been modified. Based on the results of the analysis using paired samples t-test, it was found that the significance value (0.000) < (0.05), then Ho was rejected, meaning that there was a relationship between pre-test and posttest academic stress scores after giving dhikr therapy, with a relationship of 0.619. These results indicate a decrease in academic stress in first year students with dhikr therapy. Research can be used as a solution for Muslim youth in overcoming academic stress.


Introduction
f we carefully observe the condition of Muslim society today, we will surely be aware of the problems of violence, deviation, and debates that never produce a solution. There are adolescent deviations, violence against women, and even the use of illegal drugs is now increasingly mushrooming regardless of religion. Unconsciously, individuals are now characterized by material tendencies, of course this reduces the role of morality and the teachings of religious spiritual values in life.
The standard of living becomes chaotic, the demands of the ego within, and competing to succeed in natural selection makes individuals depressed. In psychology, internal conditions caused by physical demands from the body (disease conditions, exercise, etc.) or due to environmental and social conditions that are considered to be harmful and not in accordance with individual abilities are called stress (Lazarus & Folkman, in Gross, 2012).
Stress is a common phenomenon that occurs in everyday life. Especially in adolescence, where emotional conditions are still unstable, making effective adjustments must be made to deal with stress. As happened to the first year students. First-year students must be able to adapt themselves to the new environment and of course to the campus system that is different from the high school world. The assignments and teaching systems that are different from high school are the cause of stress for students. Some students who cannot pass it may experience frustration, disruption of daily activities, and others.
The demands of the academic world, both in terms of assignments, and tests, as well as the demands of parents, even selfexpectations in achievement in the lecture environment are sources of academic stress. Academic stress is a condition of interaction between stressors in the academic environment, assessments, and student reactions in the face of discrepancies in their own circumstances with demands that exceed their abilities (Lee & Larson, 2000). Recorded in the National Crime Records Bureau, students who experience high academic pressure have an impact on committing suicide (Saha, 2017).
The impact of academic stress makes us have to find solutions to eliminate or just reduce stress levels. The use of yoga therapy, meditation, playing etc. is very beneficial for students to reduce stress and anxiety (Sharma, et al, 2016). From a spiritual point of view, the closeness between the individual and the figure of attachment, such as the figure of God, can help maintain harmony in life, as well as freedom from health problems (physical and psychological), as in Islam which provides solutions in dealing with life's stressors (Esposito 2016). The solution through worship in Islam is an easy, inexpensive, and holistic treatment for healing. Islamic psychotherapy is based on self-confidence through a firm initial intention to recover through a certain series of worship.
Students' academic stress problems can be overcome by dhikr (Fu, 2008). According to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Dhikr becomes a special ritual for the solution to every problem in life. Howell (2005) revealed that dhikr is a Muslim ritual I in which repeating the name of God can stimulate "religious ecstasy". Dhikr itself is a prayer to remember and express feelings, desires, and desires. Dhikr therapy is a form of psychotherapy that contains power spiritual and spiritual so that it can generate a sense of optimism for individuals (Hawari, 2011).This dhikr therapy focuses on certain words or sentences of prayer that are said repeatedly with a regular rhythm accompanied by an attitude of submission to God. solemnly and sincerely, so that its meaning seeps into the soul or heart. As, the word of Allah, whoever always remembers Allah, his heart will be at peace (Surah Ar-Ra`d: 28) Hamsyah and Subandi (2017) in a study that examined the relationship between the intensity of dhikr and subjective wellbeing. Data were collected by quantitative and qualitative methods. Instruments for collecting quantitative data are The Satisfaction With Life Scale, Positive and Negative Influence Scale, and Dhikr Intensity Scale. The results showed that the intensity of dhikr was highly correlated with subjective well-being (p < 0.01). These results are supported by qualitative data from interviews with Jamaah Dhikr Sholawat A`dzom. This is in line with Anggraini and Subandi (2014) that the relaxation of remembrance has a significant effect on the stress level of patients with essential hypertension.
However, there are results that are not significant in the study of Sucinindyasputeri, et al (2018). This research examines the effect of dhikr therapy in reducing stress in professional master students. The results of data analysis were not significant, that is, based on the results of the pretest and posttest, it was found that p = 0.066 p>0.05 and the value of t = 2.242. This shows that there is no effect of group dhikr on reducing stress between the control group and the experimental group in doing their academic tasks. This inconsistent result is influenced by the non-optimal intention and persistence of the subject.
Based on the results of a number of previous studies regarding dhikr therapy in reducing academic stress, proves that dhikr does have the effects and benefits good for individual psychological conditions. Therefore, researchers are interested in conducting research in overcoming academic stress with the media of dhikr. This study aims to determine the effect of dhikr therapy, namely shalawat, on reducing academic stress in first year students majoring in psychology in 2019.

Method
This research is a pre-experimental research. The experimental design used is the One -Group Posttest Pretest Design, which is a design with a pretest before being given treatment. So that it can be known more accurately, because it can compare with the situation before being treated after being given a posttest (Alhamdu, 2016).
The subjects in this study were students of the Faculty of Psychology, Raden Fatah State Islamic University, Palembang in 2019, aged 17-20 years. The subjects who were willing to participate in the study were 20 people, then they were asked to fill out an informed consent form as a sign that the subject was willing to take part in the study. Before the treatment process was given, all subjects were required to attend the first meeting. At the first meeting, an informed consent sheet was given, stress scale pretest, and material about dhikr.
Then, the subject was given a daily dhikr task independently in the form of reciting shalawat independently after maghrib and before going to bed with a time limit of up to 23.00 WIB for six days. Then continued with the last meeting, namely giving a posttest stress scale similar to the pre-test. Giving post-test to determine the changes that occur in the stress level of students after the treatment.
There are several instruments used in this study, namely the stress scale, and the results of the researchers' observations. The scale used in this study is the DASS 21 scale. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale -21 Items (DASS-21) (Lovibond & Loviond, 1995) is a series of scales designed to measure an individual's emotional state of depression, anxiety and stress. Each of the three categories of the DASS-21 scale contains 7 items, divided into subscales. Subjects were asked to choose one of four alternative answers, namely very appropriate (point 3). Agree (point 2), disagree (point 1) and strongly disagree (point 0). Then the scores for each category are added up, then multiplied by 2. The results from each category are then compared with the appropriate cut off to determine the individual's level of depression, anxiety and stress. The analytical method used in this study is a paired sample T-test with the help of SPSS 22 software for windows to see if there is an effect of prayer on reducing academic stress experienced by the subject as seen from the pre-test and post-test scores.

Results
The subjects in this study amounted to twenty students the psychology faculty of UIN Raden Fatah in the first semester who experienced academic stress. After doing dhikr therapy on the subject, the results of the pre-test and post-test on the subject are then compared, as presented in table 2. Based on the subject's pre-test and post-test scores, most of the subjects experienced changes in the level of academic stress, this shows the effect of dhikr therapy on the subject's academic stress score. In addition, researchers also always control subjects through daily dhikr tasks independently with evidence of absence in the Tepai Dhikr WhatsApp group. This is done as an effort to maintain the influence of external factors in changes in the subject's academic stress conditions.
In this study, prerequisite tests will also be carried out, namely homogeneity test and normality test. Homogeneity test was conducted to see whether the research data was homogeneous or not.  .200c,d After testing the normality assumption, the researcher tested the hypothesis using the paired sample t-test. In determining the results of the hypotheses from the therapy, this study used hypothesis testing analysis using the paired sample t-test technique (table 5 and table 6). This technique is used to see the effect of dhikr therapy on reducing academic stress in first year students of the Faculty of Psychology UIN Raden Fatah as seen from the difference between pre-test and post-test scores. Based on the results of the analysis using paired samples t-test, it was found that the significance value (0.000) < (0.05), then Ho was rejected, meaning that there was a relationship between pre-test and post-test academic stress scores after giving dhikr treatment, with a relationship of 0.619.

Discussion
Based on the research results, the null hypothesis is rejected or the alternative hypothesis is accepted, because (0.000) < (0.05). It can be interpreted that dhikr therapy can be used as an alternative solution for first year students who experience academic stress. This is in accordance with the results of research by Hamsyah & Subandi (2017) that dhikr of Sholawat can affect the mental condition of individuals who practice and believe in it.
Then it is also in accordance with the results of research by Anggraini and Subandi (2014) that the relaxation of remembrance has a significant effect on the stress level of patients with essential hypertension. Looking at the facts above, it is evident that in this study dhikr therapy is useful for reducing the academic stress level of firstyear students. Researchers use dhikr therapy with the type of prayer in reducing academic stress. The causes of first-year students experiencing academic stress are because they are still not used to the learning system in college, different (more difficult) assignments than in school, the feeling of fear if the value of the course does not match expectations, and internal demands. or external for optimal performance.

Conclussion
Based on the results of research and discussion, it can be concluded that dhikr in the form of sholawat can be used as an alternative in overcoming the academic stress of Muslim youth. So that this research hypothesis can be proven.