It has been suggested that people engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) because they (a) experience heightened physiological arousal following stressful events and use NSSI to regulate experienced distress and (b) have deficits in their social problem-solving skills that interfere with the performance of more adaptive social responses. However,…

Parents of 30 children with phenylketonuria, classified as being in good or poor dietary control, engaged in verbal and written problem-solving situations under conditions of both high and low time-pressure induced stress. Overall, compliant parents gave higher quality verbal and written problem-solving solutions than noncompliant parents.…

Research was undertaken to compare problem-solving treatment for primary care (PST-PC) with usual care for minor depression and to examine whether treatment effectiveness was moderated by coping style. PST-PC is a 6-session, manual-based, psychosocial skills intervention. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2 academic, primary care…

The authors evaluated mechanisms of change for a coping and communication-enhancing intervention (CCI) and supportive counseling (SC). They proposed that the effects of CCI on depressive symptoms would be mediated by psychological processes targeted by CCI, namely increases in the following: positive reappraisal, acceptance, planful problem…

Reports results of a two-part study designed to extend training in cognitive interpersonal problem solving to an adult alcoholic population. Treatment subjects made greater improvement on problem-solving thinking than controls. Responses in discharge interviews demonstrated that treatment subjects were more likely to anticipate and plan ahead for…

In longitudinal study of female college graduates, self-definition, measured by freshman-year Thematic Apperception Tests, predicted problem-solving and coping behavior 14 years later. Women who viewed their problems in ways that facilitated effective coping scored higher in self-definition. Women who took instrumental actions to solve their…

Compared participants (N=24) in six-session educational support group offering family caregivers information about schizophrenia, training in problem-solving skills for managing patient behavior, and greater access to social support and community resources with matched controls (N=24). Participant caregivers reported significantly reduced anxiety…

Examines the relation of coping to adherence among 57 hemodialysis patients. As predicted, coping efforts involving planful problem solving were associated with more favorable adherence when used in response to stressors involving a relatively controllable aspect of the hemodialysis context. For less controllable stressors, coping efforts…

Considers stress management and coping studies in health care insufficiently grounded in theory; researchers have not adequately considered demands presented by stressor under study. Explores this theme in five areas: (1) effectiveness of problem- versus emotion-focused coping strategies; (2) effectiveness of interventions; (3) role of individual…

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.…

Students were administered the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Procedure, and the anagram task used in investigating learned helplessness. Negative correlation was found between depression and interpersonal problem-solving ability. Only anxiety correlated with anagram performance. In…

Compared cognitive style and pleasant activities of 77 suicide-attempting female minority adolescents with those of 39 psychiatrically disturbed and 23 nondisturbed female adolescents. Suicide attempters reported significantly fewer alternatives for solving interpersonal problems, were significantly more focused on problems, and were more likely…

The impact of HIV-related parental death on 414 adolescents was examined over a period of 6 years. The adjustment of bereaved adolescents was compared over 4 time periods relative to parental death and was also compared with the adjustment of nonbereaved adolescents. Bereaved adolescents had significantly more emotional distress, negative life…

Examined longer term preventive effects of school-based intervention with boys referred by classroom teachers as highly aggressive and disruptive. Three years after intervention, boys who had received anger coping (AC) program had lower rates of drug and alcohol involvement and higher levels of self-esteem and social problem-solving skills than…

Evaluated effectiveness of 16-week intervention for 52 second- and third-grade children of divorce. Participants were compared with 52 divorce controls and 81 children from intact families on child, parent, and teacher measures of adjustment. Experimental group improved significantly more than nonprogram groups from multiple perspectives,…