Social problem solving, mood, and suicidality among inpatient adolescents

Mark A. Reinecke, David L. Dubois, Theresa M. Schultz

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

Relationships between social problem solving, mood, and suicidality were examined in a sample of 105 adolescent psychiatric inpatients (ages 12-18). Youth were administered the Social Problem-Solving Inventory - Revised (T. D'Zurilla & A. Maydeu-Olivares, 1995) as well as standardized self-report and interview measures of dysphoria, hopelessness, anxiety, and suicidality. Results indicated that a negative problem orientation as well as an avoidant or impulsive problem-solving style were associated with less favorable scores on all of the latter measures, including greater reported suicidality. By contrast, associations were not observed between utilization of rational problem-solving skills and measures of either mood or suicidality. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that the relationships found between the former measures of social problem solving and suicidality were mediated by more direct associations of less-effective social problem solving with both dysphoria/state-depression and hopelessness.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)743-756
Number of pages14
JournalCognitive Therapy and Research
Volume25
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2001

Funding

This article is based upon a paper presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Philadelphia, 1996, and was supported by a grant from the Brain Research Foundation to the first author. We wish to thank Thomas D’Zurilla for his thoughtful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

Keywords

  • adolescents
  • depression
  • hopelessness
  • problem solving
  • suicide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology

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