Objective
This study examined the contributions of shame and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms to two dimensions of social problem‐solving.
Method
A sample of 426 women who were seeking ...mental health assistance following experiences of intimate partner violence completed self‐report and clinician measures. Separate path analyses were conducted for problem orientation and problem‐solving styles.
Results
In the model examining problem orientation, higher levels of shame were significantly associated with lower levels of positive problem orientation (f2 = 0.32) and higher levels of negative problem orientation (f2 = 0.92), with large effects noted. PTSD symptoms were significantly, positively associated with negative problem orientation (f2 = 0.3, large effect). When examining problem‐solving styles, shame showed a significant negative association with rational style (f2 = 0.08, small effect) and significant positive associations with impulsive style (f2 = 0.45, large effect) and avoidant style (f2 = 0.48, large effect). PTSD symptoms did not return significant associations with any of the three problem‐solving styles.
Conclusion
Results indicate that shame holds notable associations with both dimensions of social problem‐solving, relative to PTSD symptoms, and are discussed in light of current models of post‐trauma functioning. Implications for clinical care and early intervention efforts are highlighted.
Social workers are tasked with the heavy responsibility of addressing societal problems and helping people in need, so the ability to solve a wide range of problems efficiently and effectively is ...essential for their daily responsibilities. Although recent studies have provided evidence for the salutary effects of psychological capital (PsyCap), including hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism, on job performance and well‐being, the mechanism through which PsyCap operates has not been empirically examined. Adopting the social problem‐solving theory, this study proposes that PsyCap is a positive psychological resource that enhances the ability to solve work problems, which provides an explanation for how PsyCap can produce work‐related benefits. Due to hopeful, efficacious, resilient and optimistic attributes, social workers who possess a high level of PsyCap are expected to engage in rational problem‐solving. Since social workers who possess a low level of PsyCap have less psychological resources to deal with job demands, they are expected to engage in impulsivity‐carelessness and avoidance strategies. A 2‐wave longitudinal study with a 3‐month interval was conducted on a sample of 400 full‐time social workers in Hong Kong. Cross‐lagged analysis showed that PsyCap at T1 increased rational problem‐solving and decreased avoidance at T2. These effects were nonreciprocal. A follow‐up qualitative study was conducted to contextualise and enrich the quantitative findings. In‐depth interviews revealed that social workers faced task‐related, interpersonal and organisational problems. They took an active or passive approach to problems depending on their level of PsyCap. Theoretical and practical implications for the social service sector are discussed.
Entering the 21st century, computational thinking has become a basic skill that all students must have. This research aims to determine gender differences in learning outcomes to solve social ...problems, differences in students' levels of computational thinking by gender, and the influence of students' levels of computational thinking on learning outcomes in solving social problems. This research uses a descriptive verification method with a quantitative analysis approach. The number of research subjects was 256 students, who came from the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Sebelas Maret University. The quantitative data analysis used is based on the results of computational thinking ability tests using the Wilcoxon Test. Further analysis of this research uses K-Means for clustering, while analysis of the relationship between variables uses Spearman's rho. This research shows that there is an influence of gender on learning outcomes for solving social problems, there is no significant relationship between students' level of computational thinking and gender, and there is a significant influence of students' level of computational thinking on learning outcomes for solving social problems. The results of this research show that the two factors above play a large role in influencing student learning outcomes. This capability works in synergy with the computational level of thinking. With the right efforts, growing computational thinking skills can improve students' ability to solve various learning problems.
When black women were brought from Africa to the New World as slave laborers, their value was determined by their ability to work as well as their potential to bear children, who by law would become ...the enslaved property of the mother's master. InLaboring Women: Reproduction and Gender in New World Slavery, Jennifer L. Morgan examines for the first time how African women's labor in both senses became intertwined in the English colonies. Beginning with the ideological foundations of racial slavery in early modern Europe,Laboring Womentraverses the Atlantic, exploring the social and cultural lives of women in West Africa, slaveowners' expectations for reproductive labor, and women's lives as workers and mothers under colonial slavery. Challenging conventional wisdom, Morgan reveals how expectations regarding gender and reproduction were central to racial ideologies, the organization of slave labor, and the nature of slave community and resistance. Taking into consideration the heritage of Africans prior to enslavement and the cultural logic of values and practices recreated under the duress of slavery, she examines how women's gender identity was defined by their shared experiences as agricultural laborers and mothers, and shows how, given these distinctions, their situation differed considerably from that of enslaved men. Telling her story through the arc of African women's actual lives-from West Africa, to the experience of the Middle Passage, to life on the plantations-she offers a thoughtful look at the ways women's reproductive experience shaped their roles in communities and helped them resist some of the more egregious effects of slave life. Presenting a highly original, theoretically grounded view of reproduction and labor as the twin pillars of female exploitation in slavery,Laboring Womenis a distinctive contribution to the literature of slavery and the history of women.
Social problem solving (SPS) represents a social cognitive reasoning process that gives way to behavior when individuals are navigating challenging social situations. Autistic individuals have been ...shown to struggle with specific aspects of SPS, which, in turn, has been related to social difficulties in children. However, no previous work has measured how SPS components not only relate to one another but also discretely and conjointly predict autism-related symptoms and social difficulties in autistic children, specifically. Fifty-eight autistic children (44 male; 6-10 years old, M
=8.67, SD
=1.31) completed a self-administered, computerized assessment of SPS. To elucidate how SPS components discretely, and combined, contribute to autism-related symptoms and social difficulties, commonality analyses were conducted for each measure assessing autism-related symptoms and social difficulties. Socially normative problem identification, goal preference, and solution preference were related to fewer parent-reported autism-related social difficulties. Measures related to autism symptomatology, social perspective taking, and emotion recognition were not significantly associated with discrete SPS components in this sample. The problem identification aspect of SPS contributed the most unique variance to parent-reported autism-related social difficulties, while shared variance across all SPS components accounted for substantial variance in both parent-reported autism-related social difficulties models. Results suggest that SPS components are interrelated, but distinct, constructs in the autistic population. These findings not only further clarify the impact of SPS components on autism-related symptoms and social difficulties, but also have implications for refining SPS-focused interventions in the autistic population.
Social rejection predicts negative affect, and theoretical work suggests that problem-solving deficits strengthen this relation in real-time. Nevertheless, few studies have explicitly tested this ...relation, particularly in samples at risk for suicide. This may be particularly important as social rejection and negative affect are significant predictors of suicide. The aim of the current study was to examine whether cognitive (i.e., perceiving problems as threats) and behavioral (i.e., avoidance) facets of problem-solving deficits moderated the real-time relation between social rejection and negative affect. The sample consisted of 49 young adults with past-month suicidal ideation. Demographic information, social problem-solving deficits, as well as depressive/anxiety symptoms and stress levels were assessed at baseline. Social rejection and negative affect were assessed using ecological momentary assessment over the following 28 days. Dynamic structural equation modeling was used to assess relations among study variables. After accounting for depressive/anxiety symptoms, stress levels, sex, and age, only avoidance of problems bolstered the real-time positive relation between social rejection severity and negative affect (b = 0.04, 95% credibility interval 0.003, 0.072). Individuals with suicidal ideation who possess an avoidant problem-solving style may be particularly likely to experience heightened negative affect following social rejection and may benefit from instruction in problem-solving skills.
•Social rejection severity predicted negative affect in real-time over 28 days.•Avoidance of problems increased negative affect after social rejection.•Thinking of problems as threats did not increase negative affect after rejection.
Background
Several inventories have been developed to assess social problem‐solving. However, these instruments originally developed for adult or adolescence and do not capture the full range of main ...interpersonal relationships over which elementary students resolve daily life interpersonal problems and apply elementary‐age typical responses. Therefore, the development of a valid scale to measure interpersonal problem‐solving ability in elementary school students is warranted.
Aims
This study aimed to develop and perform a preliminary psychometric evaluation of an interpersonal problem‐solving inventory for elementary school students (IPSIE).
Samples and Methods
The IPSIE was administered to elementary student samples that consist of 516 Vietnamese elementary school students in grades 3–5. This study examined the reliabilities of International problem behaviour (IPB) and interpersonal problem‐solving inventory (IPSI) as well as the construct validity of IPSI. The construct validity of IPSI was investigated by using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to explore the emerging factor structure of the data. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was utilized to fit the data.
Results
The reliabilities of IPB and IPSI were assessed by calculating internal consistencies (Cronbach’s α = 0.79 vs. 0.90, McDonald's ω = 0.79 vs. 0.82). The EFA results suggested that the IPSI has two‐factor structure. The CFA was reexamined to define theory‐driven five‐factor structure of the IPSI’s data. The CFA findings indicated that the scores of IPSI have the five‐factor structure as expected with acceptable global fit indices (CFI: 0.943, TLI: 0.939, RMSEA: 0.030, and RMR: 0.046). The concurrent validity of IPSI was tested by calculating correlations between the IPSI and SPSI‐R scores (r = .667) and the IPSI and SPSTE‐A scores (r = .482).
Conclusions
These finding figures suggest that overall the scales of IPSIE are well‐functioning measures with good psychometric properties. Caution and limitations of IPSIE are discussed. Future study and possible applicability are suggested.
Aim
Although suicidal ideation may decrease over the course of participation in specialized clinical programmes for first‐episode psychosis (FEP), it is unclear whether such improvements exceed those ...that occur during treatment as usual. Clarifying the mechanisms underlying reductions in suicidal ideation and behaviour among individuals with first‐episode psychosis may highlight important strategies through which specialized clinical programmes can increase the potency of their services to reduce suicidality among this high‐risk population. Thus, the goal of this study is to evaluate the longitudinal relationships between suicidality and social problem‐solving skills among individuals with FEP participating in Coordinated Specialty Care.
Methods
Within‐subject mediational and moderational models were applied to explore the interrelationships and longitudinal course of suicidality, social problem‐solving and duration of untreated psychosis (DUP).
Results
Over the first 6 months of care, individuals with FEP experienced improvements in social problem‐solving skills that were found to mediate concurrent reductions in suicidality. Although longitudinal changes in social problem‐solving skills were moderated by DUP, these results should be interpreted cautiously as they may stem in part from a relatively limited number of participants with longer durations of illness.
Conclusions
Improvements in social problem‐solving skills during participation in CSC may facilitate reductions in suicidality. Treatments targeting suicidality among individuals with FEP may thus benefit from working to enhance social problem‐solving skills among these individuals. Further research is needed to clarify if and how DUP may influence the magnitude of change in social problem‐solving skills during participation in CSC.
