Social Problem-solving Ability Research Articles

Childhood Abuse and Trauma and the Depressive Symptoms of Chinese Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model

Researchers have increasingly worked to identify relevant ecological factors that can help prevent the development of depressive symptoms among adolescents. However, the underlying mechanisms of these factors are not fully understood. In this study, the effect of childhood abuse and trauma on the depressive symptoms of Chinese adolescents and its underlying mechanisms were examined, in terms of the mediating role of hopelessness and the moderating role of social problem-solving abilities. A sample of 786 college students participated in this study. The results showed that adolescents who were abused and traumatized as children had higher levels of depressive symptoms than others; furthermore, this relationship was mediated by hopelessness, while the path between hopelessness and depressive symptoms was moderated by their social problem-solving abilities. The results extend the findings of previous studies by revealing the underlying mechanisms between childhood abuse and trauma and Chinese adolescents’ depressive symptoms. The study has important implications for social work services regarding adolescents who have experienced childhood abuse and trauma.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS AND CAREGIVER BURDEN AMONG DEMENTIA CARE PARTNERS

Abstract Background This study examined the extent to which social problem-solving abilities, care situations, and depressive symptomatology were associated with caregiver burden among care partners of adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Methods Baseline survey data were analyzed from care partners of ADRD who participated in a larger state-funded study. We used validated measures to assess social problem-solving abilities, care situation, positive aspects of caregiving, depressive symptomatology, and caregiver burden. Multivariate regression analysis with backward stepwise entry was used to identify factors associated with caregiver burden. Results Care partners were, on average, age 60.4 (±12.4) and most were female (82.5%) and lived with their care recipient (69.1%). Care partners who reported high caregiver burden were more likely to be male (p< 0.0001) and have a positive problem-solving orientation (p=0.0002), but less likely to have a negative problem-solving orientation (p=0.0376). Higher caregiver burden was also associated with more resentment for caregiving role (p< 0.0001), more anger towards care recipients (p< 0.0001), more depressive symptomology (p< 0.0001), and higher positive aspects of caregiving (p=0.0010). Care partners who reported high caregiver burden also reported less social support (p=0.0076) and less family conflict (p=0.0159). Discussion Findings suggest that factors thought to be protective against caregiver burden may not sufficiently reduce caregiver burden when considering their feelings of resentment and anger towards their care recipient, limited perceived social support, and high depressive symptomology. Interventions to reduce caregiver burden must consider care partners’ internal conflict as a caregiver and the relationship between the care partner and their care recipient.

Lower cohesion and altered first-person pronoun usage in the spoken life narratives of individuals with schizophrenia.

Usage of computational tools to quantify language disturbances among individuals with psychosis is increasing, improving measurement efficiency and access to fine-grained constructs. However, few studies apply automated linguistic analysis to life narratives in this population. Such research could facilitate the measurement of psychosis-relevant constructs such as sense of agency, capacity to organize one's personal history, narrative richness, and perceptions of the roles that others play in one's life. Furthermore, research is needed to understand how narrative linguistic features relate to cognitive and social functioning. In the present study, individuals with schizophrenia (n=32) and individuals without a psychotic disorder (n=15) produced personal life narratives within the Indiana Psychiatric Illness Interview. Narratives were analyzed using the Coh-Metrix computational tool. Linguistic variables analyzed were indices of connections within causal and goal-driven speech (deep cohesion), unique word usage (lexical diversity), and pronoun usage. Individuals with schizophrenia compared to control participants produced narratives that were lower in deep cohesion, contained more first-person singular pronouns, and contained fewer first-person plural pronouns. Narratives did not significantly differ between groups in lexical diversity, third-person pronoun usage, or total word count. Cognitive-linguistic relationships emerged in the full sample, including significant correlations between greater working memory capacity and greater deep cohesion and lexical diversity. In the schizophrenia group, social problem-solving abilities did not correlate with linguistic variables but were associated with cognition. Findings highlight the relevance of psychotherapies which aim to promote recovery among individuals with psychosis through the construction of coherent life narratives and increasing agency and social connectedness.

Social problem-solving and suicidal behavior in adolescent girls: A prospective examination of proximal and distal social stress-related risk factors.

Adverse social experiences are often linked to suicidal behavior in adolescence, perhaps particularly for girls. Social problem-solving abilities may indicate more or less adaptive responses to adverse social experiences that contribute to adolescent girls' risk for suicidal behavior. While social problem-solving is implicated in cognitive and behavioral theories of suicidal behavior, prior work is largely cross-sectional and examines bivariate associations between social problem-solving, assessed in neutral conditions, and suicidal behavior. Using a novel performance-based task, this study assessed social problem-solving in adolescent girls (N = 185, Mage = 14.66, SD = 1.41) before and after an experimentally simulated social stressor and examined associations between social problem-solving and past-year suicidal behavior. Prospective analyses tested whether greater changes in specific social problem-solving domains following the social stressor predicted greater likelihood of suicidal behavior over a 9-month follow-up in contexts of elevated, real-life interpersonal stress. Results revealed that adolescent girls who showed greater changes (i.e., reflecting declines) in problem-solving effectiveness following acute social stress were more likely to exhibit suicidal behavior over the following 9 months, but only if they also experienced elevated interpersonal stress in real life. State-dependent changes in social problem-solving may indicate a cognitive vulnerability following social stress that, in combination with cumulative interpersonal stress in real life, distinguishes adolescent girls at heightened risk for future suicidal behavior. Findings demonstrate the importance of examining suicide risk factors under conditions that may more closely mirror the interpersonal contexts in which adolescents' risk for suicidal behavior may be elevated. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

2022 개정 ‘사회문제 탐구’ 교육과정의 개발 과정과 특징

This study examines the development direction and characteristics of the 2015 revised curriculum 'Inquiry on Social Issues', the development direction and issues in the development process of the 2022 revised curriculum 'Inquiry on Social Issues'. The characteristics of 'Inquiry on Social Issues' were examined based on my experiences of participation in curriculum revision. The 2015 Revised Curriculum 'Inquiry on Social Issues' was newly established as a elective courses for career education in the field of social studies. It is designed to cultivate the ability to select a problem, identify the cause of the problem, and derive a solution. The 2022 revised curriculum, 'Inquiry on Social Issues' was also revised in consideration of the direction of revision pursued in the ‘chongron’ while maintaining the purpose of the 2015 revised curriculum. In addition, the level of difficulty was lowered by reflecting the review opinions raised during the revision process, and modifications were made to allow a more specific approach to social issues. In other words, while maintaining the existing subject goal of 'cultivating learner-initiated social problem-solving ability based on theoretical understanding of social problems', the number of areas and achievement standards was drastically reduced, and they were changed in consideration of the transition to a high school credit system and changes in the type of elective courses. In addition, the contents were more easily modified than the 2015 revised curriculum, the method of presenting social problems was adjusted, and as an elective courses for convergence, it was guided to approach social issues in an integrated manner. In accordance with the purpose of the curriculum revision, the tasks to make 'Inquiry on Social Issues' well used in the classroom was proposed by dividing it into textbook development and class execution.

The role of problem-solving ability, beyond academic motivation, in college students’ psychological adjustment

AbstractIn the changing and demanding university context, various situations are experienced wherein abilities to maintain motivation and activate problem solving could be relevant in students’ adjustment. Beyond the widely analyzed role of academic motivation, this study focused on the added value of social problem-solving ability in student adjustment in the academic context. Analyses based on the responses obtained from 253 students (197 women and 56 men) indicated the significant role of social problem-solving ability in student adjustment, with a small additional amount (f2 = .09) 9% of variance in life satisfaction and medium additional amount (f2 = .17) 15% of variance in depressive symptoms, beyond academic motivation. In particular, negative problem orientation was an important predictor of depressive symptoms (β = .41, p < .001) and life satisfaction (β = − .26, p < .001); however, positive problem orientation was only an important predictor of life satisfaction (β = .21, p < .01). This study also showed the predictive role of the value, expectancy, and affection components of motivation in student adjustment. Overall, the findings highlight the relevance of training in problem-solving orientation and motivational components to improve college students’ general well-being.

Social problem solving and trait socioemotional abilities in ambulatory stroke patients

ABSTRACT Introduction Stroke has been associated with sociocognitive impairment, so far well documented for emotion recognition and Theory of Mind. However, more complex abilities, such as social problem solving, which directly facilitate appropriate behavior in social situations have been neglected in previous research. Method The present study aimed to address this gap by focusing on performance-based social problem solving abilities and self-reported socioemotional abilities (i.e., empathy and alexithymia) in outpatient stroke patients (n = 36) compared to a group of healthy controls (n = 36) equivalent on age, gender, and education. In further analyses, potential lateralization effects and correlations between social problem solving/socioemotional functioning and demographic and clinical data were investigated. Results In the main analyses, patients were impaired in their ability to freely generate appropriate solutions for challenging interpersonal situations depicted in written scenarios but performed on a comparable level as healthy controls when they had to choose the optimal solution presented amidst a range of less optimal options. While showing difficulty in identifying the awkward elements in the scenarios, the patient group nevertheless rated the degree of discomfort attributed to these elements on a level comparable to the control group. On the self-report measures, stroke patients reported overall higher degrees of alexithymia (i.e., an inability to describe and identify one’s own and other persons´ emotions) and more personal distress in response to other individuals´ emotional suffering as assessed by self-report. Conclusions The present results suggest that stroke is associated with a broad impact on socioemotional and social problem solving abilities. As difficulties in social problem solving might be associated with increased psychosocial burden they ought to be addressed in stroke rehabilitation.

The Mediating Effect of Social Problem-Solving Between Perfectionism and Subjective Well-Being.

This study examined the relationship between perfectionism and subjective well-being (SWB) and dimensions of social problem-solving ability. The Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R), Social problem-solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were used to conduct a questionnaire survey of 202 Chinese adults. The results found that: (1) Subjective well-being was significantly negatively correlated with the discrepancy dimension of perfectionism and was also significantly negatively correlated with the negative problem orientation of social problem-solving. (2) The discrepancy dimension reflected in maladaptive perfectionism was significantly positively correlated with the negative aspects of social problem solving (Negative Problem Orientation, NPO; Impulsivity-Carelessness Style, ICS; and Avoidance Style, AS). (3) The negative problem orientation (NPO) dimension in SPSI-R, as a partial mediator, mediated the negative correlation between maladaptive perfectionism and subjective well-being. In conclusion, perfectionism and social problem-solving ability had different degrees of influence on the SWB of Chinese adults, and attention could be paid to dealing with discrepancy and how to reduce negative problem-solving tendency in education and clinical practice.

중학생이 지각한 부모의 심리적 통제와 사회적 문제해결력의 관계: 완벽주의적 자기제시와 회피중심 대처방식의 매개효과

본 연구는 중학생들이 지각한 부모의 심리적 통제와 사회적 문제해결력의 관계에서 완벽주의적 자기제시와 회피중심 대처방식의 매개효과를 살펴보는 것을 목적으로 한다. 이를 위하여 전국에 재학 중인 중학생 284명을 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하고 자료를 수집하였다. 측정도구로는 부모의 심리적 통제 척도, 한국판 완벽주의적 자기제시척도, 사회적 문제해결력 척도, 대처전략검사 척도를 사용하였다. 본 연구의 결과들을 요약하자면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 부모의 심리적 통제는 중학생의 사회적 문제해결력과 유의미한 부적 상관은 보였으나 제안한 연구모형 내에서 둘 간의 유의한 직접효과는 보이지 않았다. 둘째, 부모의 심리적 통제와 사회적 문제해결력의 관계에서 완벽주의적 자기제시의 매개역할이 확인되었다. 셋째, 부모의 심리적 통제와 사회적 문제해결력의 관계에서 회피중심 대처방식의 매개역할이 확인되었다. 넷째, 부모의 심리적 통제와 사회적 문제해결력의 관계에서 완벽주의적 자기제시와 회피중심 대처방식의 이중매개효과가 확인되었다. 이러한 결과를 바탕으로 선행연구들의 주요 변인들 간 경로 검증에서 한층 더 나아가 중학생들이 지각한 부모의 심리적 통제로 부터 사회적 문제해결력에 이르는 경로에 대해 통합적으로 살펴보았다. 또한 본 연구의 의의 및 제한점과 후속연구의 제언을 논의하였다.

A quasi-experimental study of specialized training on the clinical decision-making skills and social problem-solving abilities of nursing students

Background: In Asian countries, clinical practice places little emphasis on developing the clinical decision-making skills and social problem-solving abilities of nursing students. Objective: This study explored whether a 3-months-in-1-unit training program improved nursing students' clinical decision-making skills and social problem-solving abilities compared to the 1-month-in-1-unit rotation program. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted. A 3-months-in-1-unit training program was conducted in the intervention group (n = 77), rountine1-month-in-1-unit rotation was conducted in the control group (n = 73). Clinical decision-making skills and problem-solving abilities were measured using the Chinese version of the Clinical Decision-Making Nursing Scale and the Social Problem-Solving Inventory–Revised. Results: Nursing students in the intervention group scored higher clinical decision-making skills (t = 7.677, p < 0.05), positive problem orientation (t = 18.359, p < 0.05), negative problem orientation (t = −3.711, p < 0.05), and rational problem-solving (t = 2.312, p < 0.05) than the control group. Conclusions: The 3-months-in-1-unit specialized training program had a significant positive impact on students’ clinical decision-making skills and social problem-solving abilities.

The Effect of Scaffolding-Assisted Group Investigation Learning and Self-Efficacy on Social Problem-Solving Ability

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of group investigation learning assisted by scaffolding and self-efficacy on social problem-solving skills. The experimental design used in this study was a quasi-factorial design experiment pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design with a 2x2 factorial version. Data were analyzed with two-way ANOVA. The research subjects involved 67 students of class 9 SMP Negeri 36 Surabaya. Learning applies two different treatments, the investigation group learning strategy assisted by scaffolding which is applied to 9A students and group investigation learning strategies without scaffolding applied to students in 9B. There are two findings in this research: (1) The group of students who learned by the investigation group learning strategy assisted by scaffolding was better than without scaffolding. (2) The group of students who have high self-efficacy gets better social problem-solving learning outcomes. The originality of this research is the learning of scaffolding-assisted group investigation to improve social problem-solving skills.

대학생의 자아분화가 사회적 문제해결능력에 미치는 영향: 자기방어적 양가성 및 또래지지의 이중매개효과

대학생의 자아분화가 사회적 문제해결능력에 미치는 영향: 자기방어적 양가성 및 또래지지의 이중매개효과

834-P: Understanding Risks for Depressive Symptoms among Caregivers of Young Children Newly Diagnosed with T1D: The Role of Social Support and Social Problem-Solving

Introduction: Elevated depressive symptoms are common in caregivers following their children’s T1D diagnoses. In the general population, strong social support and social problem-solving abilities buffer depressive symptoms during stressful life events. To evaluate whether these constructs apply to diagnosis-related distress, we examined the associations among caregiver social support, social problem solving, and depressive symptoms after their children’s T1D diagnoses. We hypothesized that higher social support and higher social problem solving would be related to lower caregiver depressive symptoms. Methods: Participants included 157 young children (M age=4.46±1.64 years) newly diagnosed with T1D (M days diagnosed = 28.78±15.10) and their primary caregivers (70% Caucasian, 74% married, 90% female) assessed at baseline of an ongoing behavioral RCT. Caregivers self-reported their social support (Protective Factors Survey (PFS)-Social Support), social problem solving abilities (Social Problem Solving Inventory- R:SF; SPSI), and depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale; CES-D). Results: Overall, 46.5% of caregivers exceeded the clinical cut-off on the CES-D (M=16.60 (11.58)). Further, higher social support (B=-.235,-p=.004) and higher social problem solving abilities (B=-.317,-p&amp;lt;.001) were related to lower caregiver depressive symptoms, controlling for child age/sex, and presence of other caregivers (all p&amp;gt;.05). Higher negative (not positive) problem orientation was related to higher depressive symptoms (B=.373,-p&amp;lt;.001); problem solving styles were unrelated to depressive symptoms (p&amp;gt;.05). Conclusions: Behavioral interventions focused on promoting positive social support and social problem solving abilities may decrease caregivers depressive symptoms after their children’s initial T1D diagnosis. Replication using longitudinal data is needed. Disclosure C.H. Wang: None. M. Sinisterra: None. N. Herrera: None. C. Tully: None. L. Clary: None. M. Monaghan: Research Support; Self; American Diabetes Association. M.E. Hilliard: None. R. Streisand: None. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK102561)

Training Social Information Processing in Elementary School Children With Intellectual Disabilities: A Key to Support Their Emotion Regulation and Social Behaviors

Children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) show deficits in social information processing (SIP) that increased the risk of social maladjustment. As social inclusion is a major preoccupation for professionals and parents, it is important to know how foster SIP among these children, in order to support their understanding of social situations, their emotion regulation and social adjustment. The present study tested the efficacy of a new “SIP program for children”, considering specific strengths and weaknesses of these children. It also explored the potential causal contribution of SIP in elementary school children with ID to their emotion regulation, social adjustment and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. 30 children between 5 and 12 years with mild or moderate IDs, took part in a pre-test session involving measures on cognition and social problem solving. Teachers and/or parents completed questionnaires assessing children’s emotion regulation and social adjustment. Secondly, children were allocated to control or experimental groups. Experimental group participated in the “SIP program for children”. It was implemented by two trainers which used the specific material and technics described by the program during eight sessions to sub-groups of three children. After, all children took part in post-test sessions. Results showed significant improvement of social problem-solving abilities in children of experimental groups. After SIP training, they easily judged social behaviors and produced more complex justifications related to social consciousness and social rules, in comparison to the control group. Parents perceived children who had participated in the training as more socially adjusted and teachers described them as more integrated, autonomous and cooperative. These children were also perceived as displaying fewer internalizing problems.

Social Problem Solving and Posttraumatic Growth New Possibilities in Postoperative Breast Cancer Survivors.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether social problem solving (SPS) would relate to posttraumatic growth (PTG), particularly new life possibilities in breast cancer survivors. Participants included 85 women who had undergone surgical intervention for breast cancer at least 6months prior to study participation. Participant ages ranged from 29 to 88years. The majority of the sample was White (86%), married (58%), and had received at least some postsecondary education (73%), and all participants spoke English. This IRB-approved cross-sectional study was part of a larger study examining psychosocial protective and risk factors in breast cancer survivors at a university-affiliated private hospital. We hypothesized that better SPS ability would relate to PTG new possibilities above and beyond age, annual income, and time since surgery. Results from this study indicate that a positive problem orientation and lack of impulsive/careless problem-solving style appear to play a role in posttraumatic growth among breast cancer survivors, particularly in developing beliefs about one's ability to positively change one's life. Given the established benefits of active/approach coping in cancer populations, it makes sense that similar interventions such as problem-solving therapy, a cognitive-behavioral therapy that includes challenging and reframing negative beliefs about self and situation, may promote new possibility beliefs in this population.

Affecting Factors on Social Problem-Solving Ability of University Students

Background/Objectives: This study is a descriptive research to identify the factors influencing university students’ ability to solve social problems.Method/Statistical analysis: From November 18 to December 16, 2017, 250 university students in Korea were surveyed and data was collected. Data was pulled from 213 questionnaires as 37 questionnaires were inappropriately responded. SPSS Win 22.0 Program was used for data analysis.Findings: The social problem-solving ability of university students showed a positive correlation with social support (r = .377, p &lt;.001) and self-efficacy (r = .613, p &lt;.001), and negative correlation with fatigue (r = -. 311, p &lt;.001). As a result of stepwise multiple regression with general characteristics and major variables as independent variables the study identified the factors affecting the social problem-solving ability of university students. The most influential factors in the social problem-solving ability of university students were self-efficacy (?=.498, p&lt;.001), fatigue (?=-.210, p&lt;.001) and emotional support (?=.325, p=.007), indicating a total explanatory power of 42.8% (F=50.172, p&lt;.001).Improvements/Applications: It is necessary to develop a program to improve the problem-solving ability of university students in the future, and further study additional variables and mediating factors affecting problem-solving ability.

Problem-Solving Ability and Stress Mediate the Relationship Between Creativity and Happiness

Many studies have found that creativity tends to promote happiness, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study proposed and tested a serial mediation model to investigate the relationships among creativity, problem solving, stress, and happiness on emerging adults and adolescents (N = 1,146). It is hypothesized that creativity is conducive to happiness indirectly through (a) problem-solving ability, (b) stress, and (c) problem-solving ability and then stress (i.e., serial mediating effect). Undergraduate students and secondary school students self-reported their creativity, social problem-solving ability, stress, happiness, and life satisfaction. The mediating role of problem-solving ability and the serial mediating effect were found statistically significant while controlling the effect of life satisfaction. The mediating role of stress, however, was not supported. The findings not only lend further support to the beneficial effect of self-perceived creativity on happiness, but also extend our understanding on the relationship by revealing the underlying process.

Affecting Factors on Social Problem-Solving Ability of University Students

Affecting Factors on Social Problem-Solving Ability of University Students

The Effectiveness of Problem-Solving Therapy Program in Suicide Prevention for the Depressed Elderly Living Alone

This study used the quasi-experimental research design to examine the effectiveness of problem-solving therapy (PST) for the depressed elderly people living alone as a suicidal high-risk group. PST was conducted for the experimental group, both the experimental and control groups were subjected to pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test on depression and social problem-solving ability. The effectiveness of PST was verified by repeated measurement variance analysis and t-test. PST was found effective in reducing depression and its effect continued until the follow-up test. PST strengthened social problem-solving ability and rational problem-solving style, but reduced negative problem orientation and impulsive/avoidant problem-solving style, but their effects did not persist in the follow-up test. In conclusion, PST was found suitable to prevent suicide for the depressed elderly living alone, and thus PST training programs should be expanded for social workers and follow-up management should be carried out for PST participants.

Volunteer motivation, social problem solving,self-efficacy, and mental health: a structural equation model approach

The study aimed to investigate the direct effect of volunteer motivation on social problem-solving ability, self-efficacy, and mental health and examine the mediating effects on volunteer motivation and mental health by testing social problem-solving ability and self-efficacy. We examined a hypothetical model that integrates the concepts of Self-Determination Theory, the Social Problem Solving Model, and the Self-Efficacy Belief Model. Results demonstrated that volunteer motivation was significantly associated with social problem-solving ability and self-efficacy amongst 1530 undergraduate students. Three subscales of social problem-solving ability (positive problem orientation, negative problem orientation, and avoidance style) and self-efficacy served are significant mediators. Model statistics for SEM demonstrated an adequate fit with the data. Volunteer motivation provides a way to enhance social problem-solving ability and self-efficacy. It also leads to better mental health by enhancing positive problem orientation and self-efficacy and by reducing negative problem orientation and avoidance style.