Beyond the role of loneliness in psychological ill-being and well-being in females: Do social problem-solving processes still matter?

Abstract

In the present study, we examined whether social problem-solving processes would add predictive utility over loneliness in accounting for unique variance in ill-being (viz., depressive symptoms & suicide behavior) and well-being (viz., life satisfaction & positive affect) in a sample of 230 females. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that social problem-solving processes added significant predictive utility in accounting for unique variance in depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and positive affect. Moreover, negative problem orientation emerged as a significant unique predictor of both ill-being and well-being. In contrast, positive problem orientation emerged as a significant unique predictor of well-being and only one index of ill-being. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.