|
Guide
to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth |
Problem-Solving Skills Training Program for Children with Social Deficits
OVERVIEW
The Problem-Solving Skills Training program was developed for children lacking in the everyday social skills needed to solve interpersonal problems. The 24-unit program focuses on problem-solving techniques but also includes components to address self-esteem, assertiveness, communication, stress management, and social values. Sixty-six 7th-9th graders were randomly assigned in an evaluation of the Problem-Solving Skills Training program. The evaluation found that the program was effective in helping children generate more solutions and appropriate responses to social problems. The Problem-Solving Skills Training program was also effective in helping children consider the consequences of social actions as well as raising their internal locus of control.
The Problem-Solving Skills Training program drew heavily from a similar program developed by Spivack, Platt, & Shure (1976). This program aims to provide tools such as conflict resolution, perspective taking, communication, and recognizing consequences of behavior to children lacking social skills in order to enhance their social interactions. There are 24 units within the program which each address a different component of interpersonal problem solving. The program uses discussion, group exercises, games, demonstrative practice, and role playing to convey information about social problem solving. The training program is designed to span 4-5 months with sessions being held twice weekly.
Tellado, G. S. (1984). An evaluation case: The implementation and evaluation of a problem-solving training program for adolescents. Evaluation and Program Planning, 7, 179-188.
Approach: Students were assessed by guidance counselors on a scale of student behavior. To qualify for the study, students had to show clear social skills deficits. A sample of 66 students was selected and students were then randomly assigned to the Problem-Solving Skills Training program treatment condition or the control condition which received no additional intervention. Students in the treatment condition attended the program sessions during their normally scheduled study hall periods. Sessions lasted approximately 40 minutes and were attended twice weekly for a total of 20 weeks during the 3rd and 4th quarters of the school year (January - May). Students were then assessed on scales measuring social problem-solving means and ends, generation of alternative solutions, awareness of consequences, self-esteem, and locus of control.
Results: Treatment group children generated fewer irrelevant solutions and more relevant solutions compared with children in the control group, suggesting that control group children were less able to effectively solve social problems. Treatment group children were also able to generate a larger number of alternative solutions to social problems when compared to control group children. The treatment group children were found to be more likely to consider the consequences of social actions than children in the control group.
Spivack, G., Platt, J. J., & Shure, M. B. (1976). The problem-solving approach to adjustment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Tellado, G. S. (1984). An evaluation case: The implementation and evaluation of a problem-solving training program for adolescents. Evaluation and Program Planning, 7, 179-188.
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: 11-16, grades 7-9 / Program age ranges in the Guide: mid-childhood, adolescence, youth
Program components school-based
Measured outcomes: social and emotional health and development; life skills; behavioral problems
Program information last updated 10/23/06
|
|
© Child Trends 2003 |