SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Problem Solving”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources

PubMed2006

Problem-solving skills for cognitive rehabilitation among persons with chronic psychotic disorders in Italy.

Studies have shown that teaching persons with mental illness to identify and cope with their real-life problems yields substantial clinical improvements. In Italy a structured problem-solving group was established in a day treatment center in 2003. This column describes the approach and focuses on the outcomes achieved by 15 patients with severe mental illness who were in this group. After completion of the problem-solving program, significant improvements were noted in symptom scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and in problem-solving and neurocognitive test performance, with further improvements six months after completion of the group sessions. Problem-solving training may contribute to improved neurocognition and symptoms.

Chronic Disease↗

PubMed1990

Empirical testing of a cognitive model to account for neuropsychological functioning underlying arithmetic problem solving.

The efficacy of a cognitive-based arithmetic problem-solving model (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) was tested using 989 students with learning disabilities. Comprehensive neuropsychological test battery information was used to predict composite arithmetic test performance as a means of examining the utility of this model. Results of this study offer support for Dinnel et al.'s (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) model in accounting for arithmetic performance under continuous visual stimulus conditions. However, these data indicate a more complex neuropsychological underpinning to arithmetic performance in both visual and aural stimulus conditions. The neuropsychological aspects of arithmetic problem solving were discussed in relationship to this cognitive-based model.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

A distinctive interaction between chronic anxiety and problem solving in asymptomatic APOE e4 homozygotes.

We correlated measures of problem solving (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test [WCST] categories, total errors, and perseverative errors) and chronic anxiety (Personality Assessment Inventory Anxiety Scale [ANX]) in asymptomatic apolipoprotein E (APOE) e4 homozygotes (HMZs), heterozygotes, and noncarriers (NC) (n = 42 in each group) matched for age, education, and gender. Differences between HMZ and NC in the slope of the regression of WCST scores on ANX reached statistical significance on all three WCST measures. Chronic anxiety adversely affects cognitive skills in all groups, and is associated with significantly greater decline in problem solving skills in cognitively normal APOE e4 HMZ.

Anxiety Disorders↗

PubMed2005

Using problem-solving skills training to reduce negative affectivity in mothers of children with newly diagnosed cancer: report of a multisite randomized trial.

Mothers of children with cancer experience significant distress associated with their children's diagnosis and treatment. The efficacy of problem-solving skills training (PSST), a cognitive-behavioral intervention based on problem-solving therapy, was assessed among 430 English- and Spanish-speaking mothers of recently diagnosed patients. Participants were randomized to usual psychosocial care (UPC; n=213) or UPC plus 8 sessions of PSST (PSST; n=217). Compared with UPC mothers, PSST mothers reported significantly enhanced problem-solving skills and significantly decreased negative affectivity. Although effects were largest immediately after PSST, several differences in problem-solving skills and distress levels persisted to the 3-month follow-up. In general, efficacy for Spanish-speaking mothers exceeded that for English-speaking mothers. Findings also suggest young, single mothers profit most from PSST.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1995

Personal problem-solving scoring of the TAT: sensitivity to training.

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) is one of the most frequently taught and administered projective instruments in the United States. Nevertheless, formal scoring systems are not often used when evaluating story responses; thus, the reliability and validity of response interpretations remain controversial. The sensitivity-to-training of a procedure that uses the TAT to assess personal problem-solving skills, namely the Personal Problem-Solving System (PPSS; Ronan, 1990), was evaluated. In Experiment 1, undergraduate students received either detailed (n = 30) or minimal (n = 29) training in the problem-solving skill of generating alternative solutions to personal problems and subsequently wrote responses to three TAT cards. In Experiment 2, subjects received either detailed (n = 22) or minimal (n = 22) training in a utility model of decision making and thereafter responded to the same three TAT cards. Subjects who received detailed training, when compared to their minimally trained counterparts, reported an increase in their knowledge of the relevant problem-solving skill, and this increased knowledge influenced their responses to the TAT cards as measured by the PPSS scores. Implications for the construct validity of the PPSS are discussed.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Social support and problem-solving as moderators of the relationship between childhood abuse and suicidality: applications to a delinquent population.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between childhood abuse, social support, and problem-solving appraisal within a juvenile delinquent sample. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to assess whether childhood abuse, social support, and problem-solving appraisal were independently predictive of suicidality, and further, whetherproblem-solving appraisal and social support moderated the childhood abuse-suicidality relationship. Childhood sexual abuse was found to be an independent predictor of suicidal ideation and behavior. In addition, both problem-solving confidence and social support moderated the relationship between childhood abuse and suicidal ideation. The results of this study underscore the importance of both problem-solving appraisal and social support to suicidality in adolescents with a history of abuse.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

A problem-solving approach to stress reduction among younger women with breast carcinoma: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Previous research indicates that younger women (i.e., 50) and that coping style is significantly related to the psychosocial adjustment of women with this disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate through a randomized controlled trial the effectiveness of a problem-solving training intervention designed to empower women with breast carcinoma to cope with a range of difficulties when diagnosed in mid-life. METHODS: The study population consisted of women aged 50 years or younger who had no prior history of breast carcinoma, were diagnosed with Stage I-IIIA tumors, and for whom a first course of chemotherapy had been initiated recently. The intervention consisted of two in-person and four telephone sessions with an oncology nurse who provided problem-solving skills training and informational materials to the women over a 12-week period. All subjects were assessed for physical and psychosocial adjustment through telephone and mailed surveys at baseline, at 4 -months, and at 8 months. RESULTS: Of 183 eligible women, 164 participated (a 90% participation rate), 149 of whom completed the study (a 91% completion rate). The subjects had significantly lower unmet needs and better mental health at the 4-month assessment. The intervention significantly decreased the number and severity of difficulties experienced by women with average or good problem-solving skills at 8 months, but was not effective in alleviating or resolving the problems encountered by women with poor problem-solving skills, relative to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that this problem-solving therapy-based home care training intervention is an effective method of helping the majority of women with breast carcinoma to reduce the stresses associated with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in mid-life.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Social problem-solving abilities and distress among family members assuming a caregiving role.

We examined the relation of social problem-solving abilities to distress experienced by family members assuming a caregiving role for a loved one who had recently incurred a severe physical disability. Family members completed measures of problem-solving, depression and health, while their loved one participated in an inpatient rehabilitation programme. Correlational analyses indicated that a negative problem orientation was significantly predictive of caregiver distress, regardless of the degree of physical impairment of the care recipient. Women reported more distress on several measures than men, and disability severity was also associated with depression and impaired social functioning. Family members with a greater negative orientation may be at risk to develop psychological and health problems upon assuming a caregiver role. These results are discussed in light of theoretical models of social problem-solving, and implications are presented for psychological interventions and for health policy concerning family caregivers and their care recipients.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Rules and problem solving: another look.

College students were trained on problems similar to the water jar problems developed by Luchins (1942). Some students were instructed that a particular rule would solve all the problems, others had the same problems but were not instructed about the rule, and a third set of students had a series of novel problems in which no single rule operated throughout. In two experiments students in the instructed rule group not only performed best in training but also performed best when transferred to a condition in which a single novel rule was appropriate. Although results from the set of conditions most similar to those of Luchins suggested that students sometimes inappropriately persisted in rule usage, the overall results suggest that rigidity is not a necessary outcome of instructed problem solving. Indeed, many of the results were consistent with the notion that instructed problem solving is flexible problem solving.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Transition to being the mother of a new infant in the first 3 months: maternal problem solving and self-appraisals.

This study explored components of a model of transition to being the mother of a new infant during an infant's first 3 months. Personal and situational conditions and maternal problem-solving factors (issue formulating and the use of help with issues) that may influence transition markers (maternal appraisal of problem-solving competence and evaluation of parenting) were examined for two study periods: the first 30 days postpartum and the next 60 days. For the second study period, variables contributing to maternal attention to infant growth, development and temperament (knowing issues) were also explored. Questionnaires and a daily log kept by 62 mothers of healthy term infants were data sources. Everyday supports (situational condition) contributed to use of lay help for the second period. Caretaking issues positively influenced use of clinician help throughout the study. The number of knowing issues a mother formulated contributed positively to problem-solving competence and to parenting evaluation; the use of problem-solving help had no effect. More clinician help received during the first month meant higher need for maternal action for both knowing and caretaking issues in the second and third months. Further study of the mechanisms of these relationships and examination of factors contributing to shifts in the transition process are needed.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Social problem-solving skills in children with traumatic brain injury: long-term outcomes and prediction of social competence.

The effects of childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) on social problem-solving were examined in 35 children with severe TBI, 40 children with moderate TBI, and 46 children with orthopedic injuries (OI). The children were recruited prospectively following injuries that occurred between 6 and 12 years of age. They were followed longitudinally, and ranged from 9 to 18 years of age at the time of the current study, which occurred on average 4 years post injury. They were administered a semi-structured interview used in previous research on social problem-solving to assess the developmental level of their responses to hypothetical dilemmas involving social conflict. Children in the severe TBI group defined the social dilemmas and generated alternative strategies to solve those dilemmas at the same developmental level as did children in the OI group. However, they articulated lower-level strategies as the best way to solve the dilemmas and used lower-level reasoning to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies. After controlling for group membership, race, socioeconomic status, IQ, and age, children's social problem-solving, and particularly the developmental level of their preferred strategies for resolving conflicts, predicted parents ratings of children's social skills, peer relationships, aggressive behavior, and academic performance. The findings indicate that children with severe TBI demonstrate selective, long-term deficits in their social problem-solving skills that may help to account for their poor social and academic outcomes.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

[Preliminary aspects relating to the problem-solving process].

Certain theoretical and methodological aspects related to cognition and problem solving processes are reviewed in order to emphasize the inferencial procedures by which individuals overcome difficulties and limitations present in a problem situation and realize and overcome their own inferential limitations. The rôle that certain primary elements, like axioms, have in the process of making explicit and complete formal structures is also emphasized. Ability to demonstrate correctly and some limitations concerning the methalogic properties of axiomatic systems are also seen in relation to the inferential processes of cognition. Eliminatory inferential processes for adopting decisions are discussed and focused from opposite standpoints as those of associative learning theory and Gestalt theory. The inferential process is evaluated from the internal difficulty of a problem state of nature to the intellective resources available to the subject in order to validate the adopted decisions in problem solving. This comprises methods going from trial-and-error exploration to insight phenomena, through the formulation of all logical possibilities and the process of discarding them by means of experience or inference. According to the symbolic level that represents the problem state of nature formal structures are built up to the point by which they need to be gestallically closed by the inclusion of new primary terms or concepts that could be identified as axioms. This king of closure is postulated as a requirement of the aptitude for mathematics.

Aptitude↗

PubMed1993

Assessing therapeutic problem solving skills: empirical analysis of a measuring operation.

Employment of caregivers as trainers is an imperative in the training and treatment of mentally retarded persons. Besides being taught specific behavior modification skills, these paraprofessional trainers have to obtain a set of general skills in order to adjust their specific skills to new clients, situations, and behaviors across time. Empirical research on the characteristics of therapeutic problem-solving skills are scarce. This may be due to a reluctance of behavior researchers against including cognitive factors in the analysis of behaviour influence. However, the development of basic knowledge on the existence of therapeutic problem-solving and skills should be one of the primary research goals. This article describes the development and application of four scales assumed to be representative of an important set of general skills--therapeutic problem-solving skills. By means of these four scales 21 caregivers were evaluated before and after extensive training. A multifaceted measuring operation is employed with the main objective of empirically testing the dimensionality of problem-solving skills. Rater consistency and individual differences in change from pre- to post-training level are also uncovered. It is concluded that the four scales of therapeutic skills, largely reflect the same underlying concept of a rather general therapeutic problem-solving skill. Discussion of the findings also pointed to future research.

Behavior Therapy↗

PubMed1996

Problem solving by patients with multiple sclerosis: comparison of performance on the Wisconsin and California Card Sorting Tests.

Problem solving by patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis (MS) was examined using the Wisconsin and California Card Sorting Tests (WCST and CCST). On the WCST, the MS patients achieved fewer categories and made more perseverative responses and errors than controls, confirming results of several previous studies. On the CCST, the MS patients generated and identified fewer concepts, but they performed normally when sorting was cued by the experimenter and they made no more perseverations than controls. Although findings from the WCST indicate that the problem solving deficits by MS patients closely resemble those exhibited by patients with various conditions that produce frontal lobe dysfunction, results from the CCST indicate that the problem solving difficulties exhibited by patients with MS are distinct and probably represent a primary deficit in concept formation.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Dysfunctional attitudes and poor problem solving skills predict hopelessness in major depression.

BACKGROUND: Hopelessness is a significant predictor of suicidality, but not all depressed patients feel hopeless. If clinicians can predict hopelessness, they may be able to identify those patients at risk of suicide and focus interventions on factors associated with hopelessness. In this study, we examined potential predictors of hopelessness in a sample of depressed outpatients. METHODS: In this study, we examined potential demographic, diagnostic, and symptom predictors of hopelessness in a sample of 138 medication-free outpatients (73 women and 65 men) with a primary diagnosis of major depression. The significance of predictors was evaluated in both simple and multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: Consistent with previous studies, we found no significant associations between demographic and diagnostic variables and greater hopelessness. Hopelessness was significantly associated with greater depression severity, poor problem solving abilities as assessed by the Problem Solving Inventory, and each of two measures of dysfunctional cognitions (the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale and the Cognitions Questionnaire). In a stepwise multiple regression equation, however, only dysfunctional cognitions and poor problem solving offered non-redundant prediction of hopelessness scores, and accounted for 20% of the variance in these scores. LIMITATIONS: This study is based on depressed patients entering into an outpatient treatment protocol. All analyses were correlational in nature, and no causal links can be concluded. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, identifying clinical correlates of hopelessness, provide clinicians with potential additional targets for assessment and treatment of suicidal risk. In particular, clinical attention to dysfunctional attitudes and problem solving skills may be important for further reduction of hopelessness and perhaps suicidal risk.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

An approach to clinical acid-base problem solving.

This article demonstrated a systematic approach to acid-base problem solving through the application of the so-called "Rules of Five." This technique was compared with other options for acid-base problem solving, namely, clinicians' use of gestalt or an acid-base map. The superiority of the systematic approach in uncovering triple acid-base disorders was shown.

Acid-Base Imbalance↗

PubMed1991

Assertiveness and problem-solving training for mildly mentally retarded persons with dual diagnoses.

This study investigated the differential effectiveness of assertiveness and problem-solving training on dually diagnosed patients' adaptive social behavior, distress and psychiatric symptoms, anger control, and problem-solving coping skills using a counterbalanced design. Assessments were conducted at pretreatment, midphase, posttreatment, and a 3-month follow-up examination. A combined assertiveness and problem-solving training package was effective for treatment of individuals with mild mental retardation with dual psychiatric diagnoses. Specifically, improvements occurred regarding both self-report measures of distress and caregiver ratings of adaptive functioning; however, no essential differences were found between these two treatment protocols. The importance of using self-regulatory models of therapy with this population is highlighted, and recommendations were made for future research.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2001

Real-life-type problem-solving in Asperger's syndrome.

This study compared adolescents with Asperger's syndrome with typically developing adolescents on a novel problem-solving task that presented videotaped scenarios in real-life-type social contexts. The Asperger's group was impaired in several aspects of problem-solving, including recounting the pertinent facts, generating possible high-quality problem solutions, and selecting optimal and preferred solutions. This group's solutions differed most from those of the typically developing group in social appropriateness. The contributions of social experience, social understanding, and executive skills to performance on the novel problem-solving task are discussed.

Adolescent↗