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Social problem-solving might also be called ‘ problem-solving in real life ’. In other words, it is a rather academic way of describing the systems and processes that we use to solve the problems that we encounter in our everyday lives.

The word ‘ social ’ does not mean that it only applies to problems that we solve with other people, or, indeed, those that we feel are caused by others. The word is simply used to indicate the ‘ real life ’ nature of the problems, and the way that we approach them.

Social problem-solving is generally considered to apply to four different types of problems:

  • Impersonal problems, for example, shortage of money;
  • Personal problems, for example, emotional or health problems;
  • Interpersonal problems, such as disagreements with other people; and
  • Community and wider societal problems, such as litter or crime rate.

A Model of Social Problem-Solving

One of the main models used in academic studies of social problem-solving was put forward by a group led by Thomas D’Zurilla.

This model includes three basic concepts or elements:

Problem-solving

This is defined as the process used by an individual, pair or group to find an effective solution for a particular problem. It is a self-directed process, meaning simply that the individual or group does not have anyone telling them what to do. Parts of this process include generating lots of possible solutions and selecting the best from among them.

A problem is defined as any situation or task that needs some kind of a response if it is to be managed effectively, but to which no obvious response is available. The demands may be external, from the environment, or internal.

A solution is a response or coping mechanism which is specific to the problem or situation. It is the outcome of the problem-solving process.

Once a solution has been identified, it must then be implemented. D’Zurilla’s model distinguishes between problem-solving (the process that identifies a solution) and solution implementation (the process of putting that solution into practice), and notes that the skills required for the two are not necessarily the same. It also distinguishes between two parts of the problem-solving process: problem orientation and actual problem-solving.

Problem Orientation

Problem orientation is the way that people approach problems, and how they set them into the context of their existing knowledge and ways of looking at the world.

Each of us will see problems in a different way, depending on our experience and skills, and this orientation is key to working out which skills we will need to use to solve the problem.

An Example of Orientation

Most people, on seeing a spout of water coming from a loose joint between a tap and a pipe, will probably reach first for a cloth to put round the joint to catch the water, and then a phone, employing their research skills to find a plumber.

A plumber, however, or someone with some experience of plumbing, is more likely to reach for tools to mend the joint and fix the leak. It’s all a question of orientation.

Problem-Solving

Problem-solving includes four key skills:

  • Defining the problem,
  • Coming up with alternative solutions,
  • Making a decision about which solution to use, and
  • Implementing that solution.

Based on this split between orientation and problem-solving, D’Zurilla and colleagues defined two scales to measure both abilities.

They defined two orientation dimensions, positive and negative, and three problem-solving styles, rational, impulsive/careless and avoidance.

They noted that people who were good at orientation were not necessarily good at problem-solving and vice versa, although the two might also go together.

It will probably be obvious from these descriptions that the researchers viewed positive orientation and rational problem-solving as functional behaviours, and defined all the others as dysfunctional, leading to psychological distress.

The skills required for positive problem orientation are:

Being able to see problems as ‘challenges’, or opportunities to gain something, rather than insurmountable difficulties at which it is only possible to fail.

For more about this, see our page on The Importance of Mindset ;

Believing that problems are solvable. While this, too, may be considered an aspect of mindset, it is also important to use techniques of Positive Thinking ;

Believing that you personally are able to solve problems successfully, which is at least in part an aspect of self-confidence.

See our page on Building Confidence for more;

Understanding that solving problems successfully will take time and effort, which may require a certain amount of resilience ; and

Motivating yourself to solve problems immediately, rather than putting them off.

See our pages on Self-Motivation and Time Management for more.

Those who find it harder to develop positive problem orientation tend to view problems as insurmountable obstacles, or a threat to their well-being, doubt their own abilities to solve problems, and become frustrated or upset when they encounter problems.

The skills required for rational problem-solving include:

The ability to gather information and facts, through research. There is more about this on our page on defining and identifying problems ;

The ability to set suitable problem-solving goals. You may find our page on personal goal-setting helpful;

The application of rational thinking to generate possible solutions. You may find some of the ideas on our Creative Thinking page helpful, as well as those on investigating ideas and solutions ;

Good decision-making skills to decide which solution is best. See our page on Decision-Making for more; and

Implementation skills, which include the ability to plan, organise and do. You may find our pages on Action Planning , Project Management and Solution Implementation helpful.

There is more about the rational problem-solving process on our page on Problem-Solving .

Potential Difficulties

Those who struggle to manage rational problem-solving tend to either:

  • Rush things without thinking them through properly (the impulsive/careless approach), or
  • Avoid them through procrastination, ignoring the problem, or trying to persuade someone else to solve the problem (the avoidance mode).

This ‘ avoidance ’ is not the same as actively and appropriately delegating to someone with the necessary skills (see our page on Delegation Skills for more).

Instead, it is simple ‘buck-passing’, usually characterised by a lack of selection of anyone with the appropriate skills, and/or an attempt to avoid responsibility for the problem.

An Academic Term for a Human Process?

You may be thinking that social problem-solving, and the model described here, sounds like an academic attempt to define very normal human processes. This is probably not an unreasonable summary.

However, breaking a complex process down in this way not only helps academics to study it, but also helps us to develop our skills in a more targeted way. By considering each element of the process separately, we can focus on those that we find most difficult: maximum ‘bang for your buck’, as it were.

Continue to: Decision Making Creative Problem-Solving

See also: What is Empathy? Social Skills

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71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios

Do you have kiddos who struggle with their social problem-solving skills? Teach your students the simple process of how to solve a problem along with having them review how well their solution worked or didn’t work.

Learning to problem solve is an essential skill that is used not only throughout childhood but also into adulthood. Social problem solving is the ability to change or adapt to undesirable situations that arise throughout our day. On a daily basis, a child will encounter social problems that they will need to solve. Anything from arguing with another student, to hurting a friend’s feelings, to having a difficult conversation, or working with others.

Start with Small Problems

Many of the “problems” children encounter are often small problems which the child may be over-reacting to, such as wanting a different coloring crayon or wanting to be first in line, however, these small problems are still very real to the child. Practicing problem-solving with these small problems can be a great learning opportunity. Children can practice problem-solving with a small problem which can help them learn how to handle bigger problems in the future.

Problem Solving Importance

Social problem-solving skills are critical to a child’s social interactions, personal and professional relationships. A child’s ability to handle change, cope with stress, and handle challenges improves with a child’s ability to successfully solve social problems.

The ultimate goal is that the child will be able to solve social problems all on their own, but until they can independently solve a problem they will need to learn how to communicate and self-advocate to positively solve their problems.  

Students with Autism Problem Solving

Students with autism and other social challenges need to learn to problem solve as well. These social problem-solving skills will help them throughout their childhood and into their adulthood. Children can be taught how to problem solve through a guided process of breaking down the problem and using simple steps to solve the problem. Learning specific steps to problem-solving can allow children to remember how to solve a problem when they become overwhelmed or stressed. Although learning to solve a problem independently can take some time and practice it is well worth the investment to have a child who can eventually solve most social situations in a positive manner on their own.

Make Problem Solving Easier with this Freebie!

Download yours today to get started.

and social problem solving skills

Problem Solving Form

Teach your students the 4 steps to becoming a social problem-solver.

  • Identify the problem. For instance, start by having your student identify the social problem.
  • Create three solutions. Also, have your student come up with three different solutions that they could use to solve the problem that they identified.
  • Identify the consequences. Then, identify the consequence for each individual solution.
  • Pick the best solution.  Lastly, have your student identify which of their three solutions is the best choice Then have your student put into words why they think that solution is the best solution.

Problem Solving Graphic Organizer

What we learnt about solving problems is don't freak out, if one thing doesn't work , try something else out. And work together as a team. #melthammathsweek #MELTHAMPUPILVOICE @problemsolveit pic.twitter.com/iVm1Im4Aue — yr6melthamce (@yr6melthamce) February 4, 2019

Problem Solving Review Form

After your students go through the social problem-solver have them use the social problem-solving review form.

  • What happened.  For instance, after your student tried their solution have them explain what happened next.
  • Review the results. Also, have your student identify whether or not their solution got them the results they wanted.
  • Use this solution again. Furthermore, have your student identify whether or not they would use this solution again in the future to solve the same or similar problem.
  • What would you do differently? Finally, have your student explain what they would do differently if they didn’t get the results they wanted or if they wouldn’t use that solution again in the future.

Problem-Solving-Review

71+ Social Problem Scenarios + 6 Blank Scenarios

Use the 71 social problem-solving scenarios to have your students get great experience practicing how to solve a social problem. Also, included are 6 blank scenarios. Then laminate them so you can use them over and over again. Therefore, create social problems that the student experiences and needs help solving.

Problem Solving Scenarios

Wordless Video teaching Problem Solving

Watch this super cute wordless animation with your students and have them discuss the problem they see and how to best solve the problem.

Use this as a fun practice example to get your students started towards learning how to problem-solve.

Demonstrate Through Modeling

  • Model and discuss empathy. First and foremost, children need to understand how another person might be feeling in a given situation in order to become a good social problem solver. The student needs to learn how to “stand in someone else’s shoes” for a little bit. One way you can work on this skill is during the reading time you can focus on how a particular character in the story might be feeling. Ask questions, such as, “How do they feel right now? How would you feel in that same situation? Why do you think they feel that way?”, etc.
  • Model problem-solving skills as the teacher. When you are faced with a problem you can solve the problem by thinking aloud for the students to hear how you solve a problem. You can state the problem, then come up with possible solutions, then identify the possible consequences to each solution, then pick and explain why a solution is the best option. For example, you could say, “I was hoping to take the class outside for a stress walk around the track before the reading test, but the problem is that it is raining outside. I could still take you outside, but then you will get wet, or we could walk the halls, but then we’d have to be really quiet because there are other classes learning, or we could just skip the walk and take the reading test, but then you might not do as well on the test. I think based on all of those solutions the best solution will be to walk the hallway, but you guys will have to promise to be quiet so that we don’t disrupt other classes. Modeling the problem-solving process can be very helpful for the students to watch, observe, and later implement themselves.

Teach Communication

  • Have students communicate how they are feeling . Teaching your students to share their emotions in a respectful way can improve their ability to problem-solve. Have students use an “I” sentence frame, such as, “I feel _____ (insert feeling word) when _____ (identify what made you feel that way).” For example, “I felt sad when Jackson broke my favorite pencil” or “I was mad when I wasn’t picked to be first in line. “This way students can communicate how they are feeling using honest and open communication. Teaching students to appropriately communicate their emotions can help solve some social problems from the beginning.

Encourage Independency

  • Encourage your student to problem solve. If your student is struggling to problem solve independently encourage them to do so using open-ended questions, such as “How could you fix this problem?” “What would be a fair solution?” “What would happen if you used that solution?”, etc.
  • Let the student try to problem solve independently. Give your students the space to try and solve their own problems using the guided strategies. Try not to come running to their rescue for every little problem. Some problems are small and a great opportunity for the student to learn and practice. If an adult does all of the problem solving for a student then what are they really learning. Give your students the time and space they need to practice solving small problems on their own. Of course, if it is a bigger or more serious problem then have an adult help guide the problem-solving process.
  • Tell an adult. Remind your students that there are still some problems that are too big for them to solve on their own and that it is okay to get help from an adult to solve big problems. For example, if the student doesn’t feel safe, someone is being hurt physically or emotionally, or if they tried to solve a problem independently but it didn’t work and they need help. Let them know that it’s okay to tell an adult.

Teach How to Disagree and How to Make Up

  • Discuss how to disagree respectfully. Remind your student that they won’t always agree with their teacher, friends, classmate, or parents and that’s okay. Even the people we like might have different opinions, interests, and likes than we do. However, even if we disagree with someone we should still treat them with respect. Treating someone with respect means to not call them names, ignore them, yell or hit them. It means that you do try to create solutions that both parties can agree with and to apologize when we hurt others’ feelings.
  • Role-play how to make up. Practice in everyday life how to make up after a social problem .

Get your free social problem solver today!

I hope you and your students love this freebie!

Students are really having to stretch their brains today. It's @NSPCC #NumberDay and @problemsolveit are challenging Y9 and 10 to solve the escape room boxes. It's not as easy as it looks! The promise of a few sweet treats for the winners seems to be helping though! pic.twitter.com/AxRRJnJIv2 — CongletonHS (@CongletonHS) February 2, 2018

Have your students use task card scenarios to help them identify how they and others might feel in different social scenarios. Be sure to discuss the problem, identify possible solutions, identify the consequences of those possible solutions, and then based on those consequences pick the best solution. Make social problem-solving a game by telling the students that they are social detectives and that it is their job to use what they know about social rules to help them identify the possible and best solutions. Start practicing today with 71+ free social problem social task cards! Do your students need more practice? Be sure to check out my other freebie for 31 wordless animated videos to teach problem-solving and so much more.

Get More Problem Solving Time Saving Materials

Next, be sure to check out the following time-saving materials to continue to teach your students how to solve their social problems in addition to this freebie.

Weekly Social Pragmatics Homework

Social Pragmatics Homework

  • Weekly problem-solving.   Send home a  weekly homework page  that includes a problem-solving scenario plus an idiom and a conversational practice scenario.

Weekly Social Pragmatics

Restorative Justice Problem Solving Flip Book

Restorative Justice

  • Restorative justice graphic visual.  Use this graphic visual to help your student  restore a social relationship  after a social problem.

restorative justice

Self-Advocating Role-Play Scenarios

Self Advocating

  • Self-advocating in high school.  Teach your high schoolers the process to  self-advocate  for what they need.

Self Advocating Practice

5th-12th Grade Life Skills Problem Solving

Life Skills Social Skills

  • Life skills problem-solving.  In addition, this  life skills differentiated bundle  includes a problem-solving lesson plan.

and social problem solving skills

I recommend you read Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems , 61+ Free Fillable SLP Planner Pages 2020-2021 , 430+ Free Multisyllabic Words List Activity Bundle , or 432+ Free IEP Goal Bank to Save You Time posts because they include freebies as well and who doesn’t want more freebies!

Got questions? Leave a comment. Let’s chat!

Monday 30th of January 2023

Hello! I have entered my name and email twice (yesterday & today) to receive to 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Senarios, but I have not received anything yet. Not even an email back to mine in order to subcribe. Thanks for your help! Tracy

Melissa Berg

Tuesday 31st of January 2023

Hi Tracy, Thanks so much for reaching out! Sorry about that. We went ahead and sent you an email with the PDF attached. Wishing you all my best, Melissa

Problem Solving Skills

Tuesday 30th of August 2022

I truly love your site. Excellent colors, theme and writing. Thanks for sharing.

Laura Ricca

Monday 11th of April 2022

Tuesday 12th of April 2022

Hi Laura, I'm glad you found this resource helpful. Melissa

Modified Mental Health and Suicide Prevention - Speech Therapy Store

Monday 11th of May 2020

[…] 71+ FREE SOCIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SCENARIOS […]

Problem Solving Wheel: Help Kids Solve Their Own Problems - Speech Therapy Store

Monday 4th of May 2020

[…] 71+ Free Social Problem Solving Task Cards Scenarios […]

Social Skills Training for Adults: 10 Best Activities + PDF

Social skills training for adults

Struggles with social skills in adulthood can cause avoidance of social situations and interfere with building long-lasting relationships.

Providing social skills training to clients with anxiety, fear of public speaking, and similar issues could ensure more optimal functioning.

This article provides strategies and training options for the development of various social skills. Several resources to help target specific struggles related to the development of social skills in adults are also included, and the approaches can be tailored to improve social responses in specific domains.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free . These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

Social skills training for adults explained, social skills coaching: 2 best activities, role-playing exercises: 4 scripts & examples, top 2 resources & worksheets, 4 insightful videos & podcasts, positivepsychology.com’s helpful tools, a take-home message.

Social skills training includes interventions and instructional methods that help an individual improve and understand social behavior. The goal of social skills training is to teach people about verbal and nonverbal behaviors that are involved in typical social interactions (“Social,” n.d.).

Social skills training is usually initiated when adults have not learned or been taught appropriate interpersonal skills or have trouble reading subtle cues in social interactions. These instances can also be associated with disorders that impede social development, such as autism.

Therapists who practice social skills training first focus on breaking down more complex social behaviors into smaller portions. Next, they develop an individualized program for patients, depending on what social skills they need to work on, and gradually introduce those skills to their patients, building up their confidence through gradual exposure.

For instance, a person who has trouble making eye contact because of anxiety in social situations might be given strategies to maintain eye contact by the therapist. Eye contact is the foundation for most social interaction, and interventions will often start with improving the individual’s ability to maintain eye contact.

During therapy, other challenging areas will be identified such as starting or maintaining a conversation or asking questions. Each session will focus on different activities that typically involve role-play and sometimes will take place in a group setting to simulate different social experiences.

Once confidence has been built up during therapy or social skills group settings, these social skills can be brought into daily life.

Useful assessments: Tests, checklists, questionnaires, & scales

Before engaging your clients in social skills interventions or any type of therapeutic intervention, it is important to determine if social skills therapy is a good approach to help them with their current situation.

The Is Social Skills Training Right for Me? checklist is a self-assessment opportunity for clients to determine if social skills therapy is appropriate for their specific situation or if another approach will be more beneficial.

However, self-assessment activities can sometimes be unreliable, as the individual might not fully understand the treatment models that are available to them. Additionally, if a client has issues with social skills, they may not be aware of their deficiencies in social situations.

In these situations, therapists should ask clients about the issues they are having and encourage them to engage in self-questioning during sessions.

9 Questions to ask your clients

Prior to starting social skills training or activities, the therapist and client should narrow down which areas need help. A therapist can do this by asking the client a series of questions, including:

  • Where do you think you are struggling?
  • Are there any social situations that make you feel anxious, upset, or nervous?
  • Do you avoid any specific social situations or actions?
  • Have you ever had anyone comment on your social behavior? What have they said?
  • What do you think will help you improve the skills you are struggling with?

Clients can also ask themselves some questions to determine if the social skills therapy process is right for them.

These questions can include:

  • What aspects of my life am I struggling with?
  • Are there specific social situations or skills that I struggle with?
  • Do I have trouble keeping or maintaining relationships with friends, family members, and coworkers?
  • Am I avoiding specific social situations out of fear?

Getting clients to ask these questions will help determine if this process will benefit them. Having clients “buy in” to the process is important, to ensure that the approach is right for them and increase the likelihood that they will be engaged to complete activities with a reasonable degree of efficacy.

Eye contact

It is estimated that adults make eye contact 30–60% of the time in general conversation, increasing to 60–70% of the time when trying to form a more intimate relationship (Cognitive Development Learning Centre, 2019).

Giving people who are struggling socially the tools to make more eye contact is usually the first step in social skills training exercises.

The Strategies for Maintaining Eye Contact  worksheet provides some practical strategies and tips to practice making eye contact.

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Often, one of the most prominent struggles for people lacking social skills is starting a conversation, especially with people they are not familiar with.

Fleming (2013) details a helpful method for people who struggle with starting conversations. The ARE method can be used to initiate a conversation and gain an understanding of the person’s interests to facilitate a strong relationship.

  • Anchor: Connect the conversation to your mutually shared reality (e.g., common interests) or the setting in which you encountered the individual.
  • Reveal: Provide some personal context to help deepen the connection between you and the other person.
  • Encourage: After giving them some context, provide the other person with positive reinforcement to encourage them to share.

This worksheet Starting a Conversation – The ARE Method guides participants through each step in the ARE process. It also provides examples of how the ARE method can be incorporated into a typical conversation and used as a workable strategy in social skills training activities.

A Guide to Small Talk: Conversation Starters and Replies  provides an outline of conversation ideas to help start any conversation, no matter the setting.

After developing the ability to start a conversation, being able to project assertiveness and understand one’s limits is essential in ensuring clear communication.

These worksheets on Different Ways to Say ‘No’ Politely and Using ‘I’ Statements in Conversation  facilitate assertive communication and give clients the confidence to set personal limits.

Shyness

A lack of opportunity to learn coping strategies and difficulty with emotional regulation have been associated with anxiety and low problem-solving abilities (Anderson & Kazantzis, 2008).

An individual’s lack of ability to problem solve in social situations significantly affects their ability to come up with reasonable solutions to typical social problems, which in turn, causes them to avoid more difficult social situations.

Practicing social problem solving is a key component of social skills training. This worksheet on Social Problem Solving allows your clients to define the problems they are facing and rate the potential solutions from low to high efficacy.

Based on the rating, therapists can instruct clients to practice their social reasoning during sessions. Practicing these skills builds clients’ confidence and increases the likelihood that they will access these solutions under pressure.

Similarly, the Imagining Solutions to Social Problems worksheet implements a related process, but challenges participants to engage in a visualization activity. While engaging in visualization, participants have the opportunity to imagine what they would say or do, and reflect on what they have learned and why the solution they chose was best for that particular problem.

Supplementing modeling and practical activities with interactive audio-visual aids, such as podcasts and videos, is an essential practice in ensuring that patients seeking social skills training are getting multiple perspectives to develop their social intelligence.

Below, we have provided resources to help your clients with different social skills and situations.

An introvert’s guide to social freedom – Kaspars Breidaks

This TEDx talk focuses on providing guidelines for self-identified introverts. In this video, Breidaks frames introversion as an opportunity, rather than a weakness.

Based on his experiences moving from a small town to a big city and eventually starting improv comedy, he developed a workshop to help integrate principles of improvisation into social skills training.

His workshops focus on creating connections through eye contact and breaking through shyness by training the small talk muscle. Because of his experience, he recommends you say yes to yourself before saying yes to others. Breidaks theorizes that only by developing our awareness of our own true emotions and thoughts can we become more comfortable interacting with others.

This video is helpful if your patients need workable tips to improve their interactions with strangers and is an excellent complement to some of our worksheets on developing skills for small talk.

10 Ways to have a better conversation – Celeste Headlee

This TEDx talk is focused on tactics to have more effective conversations. In her TED talk, Headlee emphasizes the importance of honesty, clarity, and listening to others as well as yourself.

Headlee shares her ideas about how to talk and listen to others, specifically focusing on sustaining clear, coherent conversation and the importance of clear, direct communication.

She argues that technology has interfered with the development of interpersonal skills, stating that conversation is an art that is fundamentally underrated and should be emphasized more, especially among young children.

The main point Headlee tries to get across is to avoid multitasking and pontificating during conversation. Individuals who are struggling with active listening and keeping a conversation going would benefit from the tips she offers in this video, as she uses a lot of the same principles when interviewing her radio guests to ensure that she is getting the most out of their appearances.

She specifically emphasizes the importance of being continually present while talking and listening to someone, which is strongly emphasized in social skills training.

How Can I Say This – Beth Buelow

How can I say this Podcast

Each episode also provides techniques or approaches to help listeners become more confident when dealing with different social situations. The podcast also takes listener questions about dealing with social situations and issues.

If your clients are struggling with introducing themselves to new people, they may benefit from the episodes on talking to strangers and how to have difficult conversations.

Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts .

Social Skills Coaching – Patrick King

Social Skills Coaching Podcast

King focuses on using emotional intelligence and understanding human interaction to help break down emotional barriers, improve listeners’ confidence, and equip people with the tools they need for success.

Although King’s expertise is centered on romantic relationships, this podcast provides strategies to improve one’s emotional awareness and engage in better communication.

People engaging in social skills training would benefit from the episode on social sensitivity, which examines the social dynamics of the brain. It also explains why our brains are programmed to respond more to specific traits (e.g., warmth, dominance) and why people with those traits are often elevated to higher positions within the social hierarchy.

Available on  Apple Podcasts .

There are several resources available on our website to complement the social skills training that you are providing to your clients.

Our Emotional Intelligence Masterclass© trains helping professionals in methodology that helps increase their client’s emotional intelligence.

The client workbook has several exercises that practitioners can give their clients to develop an awareness of their emotions and, subsequently, understand how those emotions might contribute to interactions with others.

Our Positive Psychology Toolkit© provides over 400 exercises and tools, and the Social Network Investment exercise, included in the Toolkit, focuses on reflecting on a client’s current social network. By further looking into the amount of time and investment devoted to the members of their social network, clients can further identify who is supportive of their endeavors and who negatively affects experiences.

With this knowledge, relationships can be analyzed before devoting even more time and investment that might not facilitate positive emotions.

People who struggle with initiating conversation might also have trouble talking about their emotions. Our exercise on Asking for Support , also in the Toolkit, can provide assistance to someone having trouble communicating their emotions.

It also provides strategies to practice asking for help when needed. This exercise also gives you the opportunity to identify any personal barriers that are impending your ability to seek help from others.

You might be interested in this sister article, Social Skills Training for Kids , which provides top resources for teachers. To enhance your knowledge, our Social Skills Books for Adults & Kids  is a must-read selection of top books.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, this signature collection contains 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners . Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

Improving social skills is an important skill to develop for anyone trying to facilitate professional and personal connections.

However, sometimes clients might not even realize they need targeted interventions to help with their social skills, and they might approach a therapist with other challenges around anxiety entering new situations.

For that reason, we hope this article provided valuable options for the development of social skills, with useful activities and social skills worksheets to be incorporated into your sessions.

We encourage you and your clients to explore these exercises together and engage in goal-setting tools to target areas that will benefit their daily lives, relationships, and communication.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

  • Anderson, G., & Kazantzis, N. (2008). Social problem-solving skills for adults with mild intellectual disability: A multiple case study. Behaviour Change , 25 (2), 97–108.
  • Cognitive Development Learning Centre. (2019). Training eye contact in communication . Retrieved May 4, 2021, from https://cognitive.com.sg/training-eye-contact-in-communication/
  • Fleming, C. (2013). It’s the way you say it: Becoming articulate, well-spoken and clear (2nd ed.). Berrett-Koehler.
  • Social skills training. (n.d.). In  Encyclopedia of mental disorder. Retrieved May 4, 2021, from http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Social-skills-training.html

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John DeGeorgio

Sounds so good for my young adult. Do you know of any in person sessions, workshops, which would benefit him being in person.

Nancy Pidgeon

I would like to know what the best book to get for my husband for him to learn social skills conversations. Thank You

Julia Poernbacher

check out our article “ 12 Must-Read Social Skills Books for Adults & Kids “.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards, Julia | Community Manager

Nell

Are there any online classes for people suffering with anxiety, Aspergers and a lack of social skills? This is a great article, but there are no therapists who teach social skills. These are skills that come from parents. Like me, when you have no parent or friends to teach you, what do you do? Please make an online course. I would pay to watch a course and even buy materials.

Thank you for your thoughtful comment and interest in an online course addressing anxiety, Aspergers, and social skills. I understand how challenging it can be to find the right resources, especially when traditional sources of support may not be readily available.

While we don’t currently offer an online course, we are happy to recommend a helpful resource that cater to individuals experiencing similar difficulties: Psychology Today has a great directory you can use to find therapists in your local area. Usually, the therapists provide a summary in their profile with their areas of expertise and types of issues they are used to working with.

I hope this helps.

Raphael

Hello, I just found out about this website today and this is the exact type of service I need. I unfortunately cannot find any one like this that is near me or accept my insurance. And I need this fast since my quality of life is so bad, I have severe social anxiety, and never had friends or a relationship.

Amelia

Hi there a lot of the links don’t work in this article? How can I access the resources?

Caroline Rou

Thanks for your question! We are working on updating all the broken links in our articles, as they can be outdated. Which specific resource are you looking for?

Maybe I can help 🙂

Kind regards, -Caroline | Community Manager

Robin

Living socially isolated, getting told I have autism ad the age of 33, I found out that I have a lot to learn about being social with people. Now knowing what my “ problem” is also gave me the drive to improve my people skills. Fearing I willing never fully understand feelings ( not even my own) all help is welcome. And this was a very helpful article. Living in a world with tips and tricks to look normal will never be easy. But you sure help me .. thank you..

M

AMAZING work.. .as always. Thank you !

Dane Custance

Thank you Gabriella social skills have been a real issue for me for my whole life. There are so many helpful avenues to explore thanks this article.

Steven Cronson

Steven Cronson My brothers didn’t consider me an Aspie and made a pact to ignore me , block me I hadn’t even learned many social skills my brother a psychiatrist tried by giving me ptsd and gad a Divorce to try to get me to end my life. My wife proudly fought back and figured out how better to understand me. And I fought the awful had medicine Lexapro that I consider the devil in a pill that made me flat and losing my superpower focusing ability. I hope a producer latched on to my fascinating story of greed, over good, attack on my very life and a brother doctor that should never been one. My dad a psychiatrist made me a DDS to be respected and listened to but not even work and married off in a fake but better life. They accused me an Aspie blind to empathy. B

Nicole Celestine, Ph.D.

I’m sorry to read about your challenges with your family. It’s good that you have what sounds like a supportive ally in your wife. And indeed, medications don’t work for everyone — or it may be the case that a different medication may suit you better. Definitely raise these concerns with a trusted psychiatrist if you feel medication could help you.

As you note, it’s a harmful myth that those on the autism spectrum don’t feel empathy. And this myth unfairly stigmatises members of this community. I’m sorry to read about these accusations from your family.

On another note, if you’d like to work on your social skills, consider reaching out to support groups for those with Aspergers in your area, or seeking the support of a therapist with expertise in this area. Psychology Today has a great directory you can use to find therapists in your local area. Usually, the therapists provide a summary in their profile with their areas of expertise and types of issues they are used to working with.

I hope this helps, and I wish you all the best.

– Nicole | Community manager

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Education Articles & More

How to empower students to take action for social change, follow these four steps to help students develop a sense of agency over social problems..

Young people are increasingly aware and concerned about the problems our world is confronting, from climate change to racial disparities in society. When facing social problems, how can educators transform a child’s sense of helplessness toward hope and action?

Educators must not allow our adolescents to languish in the face of social problems and injustice. In James Baldwin’s 1963 Talk to Teachers , he reminds us of this charge: “Our obligation as educators is to entrust in our students the abilities to create conscious citizens who are vocal about reexamining their society.” It is the moral imperative of public education to foster student agency to nurture an engaged citizenry.

At the Rutgers University Social-Emotional Character Development Laboratory’s Students Taking Action Together project , we have developed a social problem-solving and action strategy, PLAN, that makes it possible for teachers to transform students’ sense of hopelessness into empowerment. It allows students to investigate a particular social problem to get to the root cause, then design an action plan to challenge the dominant power structure to make change. It emphasizes considering the issue from multiple viewpoints to develop a solution that is inclusive and viable. 

and social problem solving skills

Below, we’ll describe the four components of PLAN and demonstrate how to use PLAN to empower students in grades 5-12 to take action. We hope these strategies can help you encourage your students to be more deeply engaged with today’s problems and inspired to take social action. 

P: Create a Problem description

Problems are an inherent part of our daily lives, and one of the key problem-solving skills is the ability to define a problem.

To define a problem, students working collaboratively in groups of four or five start by reviewing background sources, such as articles, speeches, and podcast episodes, and then draft a problem description . They can discuss the following questions to frame their thinking. Not all questions will be answered, yet the discussion will guide and stretch their thinking to begin defining the problem:     

  • Is there a problem? How do you know?
  • What is the problem?
  • Who is impacted by the problem?
  • What are the issues from each perspective/party involved? What is the impact on the different individuals/groups involved?
  • Who is responsible for the problem? What internal and external factors might have influenced this issue?
  • What is causing those responsible to use these practices?
  • Who were the key people involved in making important decisions?

To illustrate this process, let’s use the example of a recent issue: Texas’s refusal of federal funding to expand health care under the Affordable Care Act for all citizens of the state. For this issue, students might write the following problem description:

Along with Texas, 13 other states have refused to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid for citizens under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). State refusals can be attributed to a variety of factors. State lawmakers fear the loss of support from voters and their political party if they accept the federal funding to expand access to health care for lower-income communities and communities of color. Public perceptions of expanding social programs and the political costs of supporting bi-partisan reform also play a role. Political obstructionism harms all citizens, causing people to go without needed medical care and perpetuating inequalities in public health.  

L: Generate a List of options to solve the problem and consider the pros and cons


Organizing for change is a skill that can be taught, even though problem solving in the political arena may feel novel and uncertain for students. Stress that while there is no guarantee of a positive outcome as they tackle a problem, brainstorming effective and inclusive solutions can help stimulate deeper awareness and discussion on the need for change. According to Irving Tallman and his colleagues , this process teaches students to apply reasoning to anticipate how solutions may play out and, ultimately, arrive at an estimate of the probability of a specific result. 

That’s where the second step of PLAN comes into play: listing the possible solutions and considering the optimal plan of action to pursue. Students will revisit the background sources that they consulted during step one to consider how the actual current-event problem has been addressed over time and reflect on their own solutions. We encourage you to facilitate a whole-class discussion, guided by the following questions:

  • What options did the group consider to be acceptable ways to resolve the problem?
  • What do you think about their solution? 
  • What would your solution be?
  • What solution did they ultimately decide to pursue?

For example, here are some solutions that students may generate as they brainstorm around health care funding in Texas: 

  • Launch a letter writing campaign to Senators and Congressional representatives communicating that obstructionism of federal funding to expand health care hurts all citizens and public health.
  • Develop a social media-based public service announcement about the costs of refusing federal funding to expand health care, tagging state Senators and local Congressional representatives. 
  • Team up with a public health advocacy organization and learn about how to support their work in key states.

Students would then weigh the pros and cons of each solution, as well as apply perspective-taking skills to consider the needs and interests of all relevant stakeholders (e.g., government officials, insurance companies, and patients) to select what they deem to be the most effective and inclusive option. In evaluating the pros and cons of all of the solutions presented above, they may determine:

  • Solutions have direct routes to communicating to politicians and have a wide audience reach.
  • Solutions build student’s advocacy skills and can send a clear message to lawmakers. 
  • Solutions enable students to rehearse the skills of correspondence, networking, and communicating their ideas and plans with outside agencies.
  • Solutions require substantial time for additional research.
  • In some solutions, students may not be addressing issues in the state they live.
  • In the letter-writing solution, letters lack a broad reach and the identified state(s) may already be developing reasonable alternatives to accepting federal funds to expand health care access. 
  • The solutions will require efforts to be sustained over time and will demand additional time in or beyond the classroom to orchestrate.

This essential problem-solving skill will support students in making objective, thoughtful decisions. 

A: Create an Action plan to solve the problem

After students select what they assess to be the most effective solution, they collaborate with one another to develop a specific, measurable, attainable goal and a step-by-step action plan to implement the solution. Together, researchers refer to this as the solution plan. 

For example, the goal might be to develop a one-minute public service announcement about the costs of a state’s refusal to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid under the ACA.  

The step-by-step solution plan should align with the goal to resolve the problem and increase positive consequences, while minimizing potential negative effects. Your students should keep the following in mind when developing their plans:

  • Make steps as specific as possible.
  • Consider who is responsible for implementing each step.
  • Determine how long each action step will take to execute.
  • Anticipate any challenges that you may face and how you will address them.
  • Identify the data that you can collect to determine whether or not your action plan was successful.

Below is a sample action plan that students may develop to meet their public service announcement goal:


  • Convene a group of students to conduct research on the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid and the states that have accepted federal aid and those that refused federal aid.
  • Conduct research by interviewing school nurses, county health commissioners, and the state’s Department of Health for additional content.
  • Collaborate with visual arts teachers and students to design and develop the video, and course-level teacher to review the video. 
  • Post the social media public service announcement on YouTube and share on social media, tagging the appropriate audiences. 

N: Evaluate the action plan by Noticing successes

The final step of PLAN involves evaluating the success of the action plan, using the evidence collected throughout in order to notice successes. As a whole class, students consider how similar problems were solved historically, as compared to the success of their plan. They also consider aspects of the plan that went well and those that could be improved upon moving forward. Connecting to past examples of social action affirms the understanding that you don’t always get it right in the initial push for change, and that the legacy and knowledge of incomplete change is passed from one generation to the next. 

A Sample Lesson

To check out how to infuse PLAN using a historic event, check out our ready-made lesson on Fredrick Douglass’s 1852 Speech: "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" .

Noticing successes is essential to instilling confidence in students to exercise their voice and choice by organizing for and taking social action. Research suggests that problem-solving skills help buffer against distress when people are experiencing stressful events in life. With PLAN, we have discovered that equipping our students with problem-solving skills is a strong predictor of student agency and social action . By teaching a deliberate social problem-solving strategy, we nurture hope that change can be made. 

In her 2003 Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope , bell hooks reminds us of the transformative power to upend the dominant power structure by bridging the gap between complaining and hope and action: “When we only name the problem, when we state a complaint without a constructive focus or resolution, we take away hope. In this way critique can become merely an expression of profound cynicism, which then works to sustain dominator culture.”

It is not enough to witness and criticize injustice. Students need to learn how to overcome injustice by developing solutions and gaining a sense of empowerment and agency. 

About the Authors

Lauren Fullmer

Lauren Fullmer

Lauren Fullmer, Ed.D. , is the math curriculum chair and middle school math teacher at the Willow School in Gladstone, NJ; instructor for The Academy for Social-Emotional Learning in Schools—a partnership between Rutgers University and St. Elizabeth University—adjunct professor at the University of Dayton’s doctoral program, and a consulting field expert for the Rutgers Social-Emotional Character Development (SECD) Lab.

Laura Bond

Laura Bond, M.A. , has served as a K–8 curriculum supervisor in central New Jersey. She has taught 6–12 Social Studies and worked as an assistant principal at both the elementary and secondary level. Currently, she is a field consultant for Rutgers Social Emotional Character Development Lab and serves on her local board of education.

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Solutions for Social Emotional Learning & Executive Functioning

Teaching Social Problem-Solving with a Free Activity

February 3, 2018 by pathway2success 5 Comments

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How to Teach Social Problem Solving with a Free Activity Solving

Kids and young adults need to be able to problem-solve on their own. Every day, kids are faced with a huge number of social situations and challenges. Whether they are just having a conversation with a peer, working with a group on a project, or dealing with an ethical dilemma, kids must use their social skills and knowledge to help them navigate tough situations. Ideally, we want kids to make positive choices entirely on their own. Of course, we know that kids don’t start off that way. They need to learn how to collaborate, communicate, cooperate, negotiate, and self-advocate.

Social problem solving skills are critical skills to learn for kids with autism, ADHD, and other social challenges. Of course, all kids and young adults benefit from these skills. They fit perfectly into a morning meeting discussion or advisory periods for older kids. Not only are these skills that kids will use in your classroom, but throughout their entire lives. They are well worth the time to teach!

Here are 5 steps to help kids learn social problem solving skills:

1. Teach kids to communicate their feelings. Being able to openly and respectfully share emotions is a foundational element to social problem solving. Teaching I statements can be a simple and effective way to kids to share their feelings. With an I statement, kids will state, “I feel ______ when _____.” The whole idea is that this type of statement allows someone to share how their feeling without targeting or blaming anyone else. Helping kids to communicate their emotions can solve many social problems from the start and encourages positive self-expression.

2. Discuss and model empathy. In order for kids to really grasp problem-solving, they need to learn how to think about the feelings of others. Literature is a great way teach and practice empathy! Talk about the feelings of characters within texts you are reading, really highlighting how they might feel in situations and why. Ask questions like, “How might they feel? Why do you think they felt that way? Would you feel the same in that situation? Why or why not?” to help teach emerging empathy skills. You can also make up your own situations and have kids share responses, too.

Developing Empathy

3. Model problem-solving skills. When a problem arises, discuss it and share some solutions how you might go forward to fix it. For example, you might say, “I was really expecting to give the class this math assignment today but I just found out we have an assembly. This wasn’t in my plans. I could try to give part of it now or I could hold off and give the assignment tomorrow instead. It’s not perfect, but I think I’ll wait that way we can go at the pace we need to.” This type of think-aloud models the type of thinking that kids should be using when a problem comes up.

4. Use social scenarios to practice. Give a scenario and have kids consider how that person might feel in that situation. Discuss options for what that person might do to solve the problem, possible consequences for their choices, and what the best decision might be. Kids can consider themselves social detectives by using the clues and what they know about social rules to help them figure out the solution. These are especially fun in small groups to have kids discuss collaboratively. Use these free social problem solving cards to start your kids off practicing!

Social Problem Solving Task Cards

5. Allow kids to figure it out. Don’t come to the rescue when a child or young adult has a problem. As long as it’s not a serious issue, give them time to think about it and use their problem-solving skills on their own. Of course, it’s much easier to have an adult solve all the problems but that doesn’t teach the necessary skills. When a child comes to you asking for your help with a social problem, encourage them to think about it for five minutes before coming back to you. By that point, they might have already figured out possible solutions and ideas and might not even need you anymore.

If you are interested in helping your kids learn social problem solving skills right away, consider trying out these Social Problem Solving Task Cards . They highlight real social scenarios and situations that kids can discuss. The scenarios include a variety of locations, such as in classrooms, with family, with friends, at recess, and at lunch. This set is targeted for elementary-age learners.

Social Scenario Problem Solving Task Cards

Of course, older kids need social problem solving skills, too! If you work with older kids, you will love these Social Problem Solving Task Cards for Middle and High School Kids. These situations target age-appropriate issues that come up in classes, with friends, with family, in the hallway, in the cafeteria, and with online and texting.

Social Problem Solving Task Cards for Middle and High School

Remember that teaching social problem skills does take a little bit of planning and effort, but it will be well worth the time! Kids will use these skills to help them make social decisions in their everyday lives now and in the future!

Social Problem Solving with a Free Activity

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and social problem solving skills

February 22, 2018 at 12:03 am

Thank you for sharing>

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March 3, 2018 at 8:59 am

Good thought ful

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March 20, 2018 at 9:24 pm

They are not free

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March 21, 2018 at 8:58 am

They are! Here is the link (it’s listed under number 4): https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Social-Problem-Solving-Task-Cards-2026178 I also have a paid version with a bunch more cards (for both elementary and older kids), but that will give you the freebie. Enjoy!

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July 15, 2018 at 3:41 am

Awesome way to teach the skill of social problem solving.

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⭐ Kristina 💖 SEL & Executive Functioning 💻 Blogger at www.thepathway2success.com 👩‍🏫 Special Educator turned Curriculum Specialist Links here 👇

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Using social media affordances to support Ill-structured problem-solving skills: considering possibilities and challenges

  • Open access
  • Published: 11 November 2021
  • Volume 71 , pages 199–235, ( 2023 )

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  • Adrie A. Koehler   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0954-1391 1 &
  • Daniela Rezende Vilarinho-Pereira 1  

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Educators consider the development of problem-solving skills in learners to be a primary goal of contemporary teaching and learning efforts. Yet, participating in problem-centered instruction is challenging for learners, and educators have sought different ways of supporting learners as they make sense of complex content. Social media applications are readily available for use by educators, which in turn provides many opportunities for these tools to support teaching and learning activities. While social media affordances offer educators exciting opportunities to support learners in authentic problem-solving contexts, these tools do not come without challenges, and little research has considered how such tools can specifically facilitate the development of learners’ problem-solving abilities. The purpose of this paper is to identify prominent educational affordances of social media and to explore how these identified affordances have the potential to support ill-structured problem-solving activities. This paper offers researchers and educators new directions for facilitating problem-centered learning when using social media.

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Introduction

The potential of technology to enhance teaching and learning has long been debated as whether technologies fundamentally change teaching and learning processes (see Clark, 1983 , 1994 ; Kozma, 1991 , 1994 ). Arguably, technologies emerging and developing in the twenty-first century (e.g., social media) have evolved in profoundly different ways compared to previous technologies. Becker ( 2010 ) articulated the uniqueness of these evolutions: “The rate of change for newer, faster, and more ubiquitous ways to access communication technologies and the information now stored digitally continues to increase” (twenty-first century Clark section, para. 2). Simultaneously, the way individuals—especially youth—interact with technology as part of their daily routine has drastically changed (see Rideout et al.’s report from 2010 ).

Perhaps, social media represent one of the best examples of a technology that is “fundamentally different from, and more powerful than” previous technologies (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010 , p. 60). Social media applications offer individuals “new structures” to connect with people they “admire” or “find interesting” (Boyd, 2015 , pp. 1–2). In short, “social media is a phenomenon” (Boyd, 2015 , p. 1), and their emergence “enabled an evolutionary leap forward in the social component of web use” (Obar & Wildman, 2015 , p. 745). While the specific properties of social media are not necessarily “new, their relation to one another because of networked publics creates new opportunities and challenges” (Boyd, 2014 , p. 11).

To strategically consider how contemporary technologies, like social media, are evolving and to determine value, many researchers have adopted an affordance-based approach—both in education (Jin, 2018 ; Xue & Churchill, 2019 ; Zawawi et al., 2017 ) and beyond (Chen et al., 2019 ; van Osch & Coursaris, 2017 ). By focusing on affordances (e.g., qualities emerging from user and tool interaction, Gaver, 1991 ), not only are researchers able to consider the collection of features of a given tool to distinguish it from other tools (Treem & Leonardi, 2013 ), but also, educators can be informed in their technology integration decisions.

However, cognizant of Clark’s argument, technology advancement alone is not enough to generate educational transformation. Ideas of what comprises contemporary employability have also shifted (de Fruyt et al., 2015 ). That is, recently, individuals are increasingly expected to complete “non-routine and interactive tasks” versus “routine operations” in the workplace (Neubert et al., 2015 , p. 238). While many skills are important for the twenty-first century workplace (e.g., creativity, collaboration, information literacy), problem solving is generally acknowledged “among the most meaningful and important kinds of learning and thinking” (Jonassen, 1997 , p. 65). To prepare students for future professional ill-structured realities, educators have focused on facilitating “authentic and active” learning experiences (Tawfik et al., 2019 ).

Nevertheless, facilitating problem-solving skills is challenging, and during problem-centered learning experiences, the instructor bears much of the responsibility for guiding students to successful outcomes (Tawfik et al., 2020 ). Likewise, students face challenges while participating in problem-centered learning experiences (Koehler & Ertmer, 2016 ). Some educators have explored the use of technology to support students’ problem-solving skill development (Koehler et al., 2017 ; Goeze et al., 2014 ).

Although affordances of emerging technologies, like social media, and the facilitation of problem-solving skills have been previously researched, limited efforts have considered the integration of these two areas to offer new insight into successfully facilitating problem-centered methodologies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the affordances of a readily available and used technology like social media can support the problem-solving process. We first synthesize literature related to problem solving and social media affordances. Then, we provide specific strategies for facilitating problem-solving skills supported by social media affordances. We offer specific considerations necessary for intentional social media use during problem-center learning.

  • Problem solving

Problem-solving skills are generally recognized as an important outcome of twenty-first century education (Hesse et al., 2015 ; van Merriënboer, 2013 ). Problems are defined as situations “in which you are trying to reach some goal, and must find a means for getting there” (Chi & Glaser, 1985 , p. 229) and are categorized in different ways to underscore unique features (e.g., well-structured, ill-structured, story, design; Chi & Glaser, 1985 ; Jonassen, 1997 , 2011 ). The ability to solve ill-structured problems is considered an “essential competence” by contemporary standards (Eichmann et al., 2019 ), and these problems have been conceptualized as having ill-defined parameters, inflexible constraints, and many possible solutions (Jonassen, 1997 ).

Although most educators agree the development of problem-solving skills is a worthwhile learning outcome, implementing methods promoting such skills can be challenging (Ertmer & Koehler, 2014 ; Koehler et al.,  2019 ; Stepich et al., 2001 ). To conceptualize the problem-solving process and support the development of these skills, specific models have been proposed to describe the process used for solving ill-structured problems (see Choi & Lee, 2009 ; Jonassen, 1997 ; Svihla & Reeve, 2016 ). These models focus on key processes and behaviors taking place while problem solving: understanding problem situations and contexts, considering stakeholder perspectives, generating possible solutions, using a rationale to support decisions, and implementing and evaluating selected solutions.

Table 1 captures several conceptualizations of problem-solving processes. In these models, specific steps are articulated; however, while some phases must precede other phases for effective problem solving (e.g., problem representation before solution generation), problem-solving phases are generally considered iterative and non-sequential (Kim & Hannafin, 2011 ) and have traditionally been grouped into two primary categories by scholars: problem finding (e.g., developing a clear understanding of a problem) and generating solutions (e.g., creating solutions addressing defined problems) (Chi & Glaser, 1985 ; Ertmer & Stepich, 2005 ; Eseryel et al., 2011 ; Law et al., 2020 ). By synthesizing these models, problem finding comprises three primary actions: (a) articulating the problem space, constraints, and stakeholder roles; (b) considering diverse perspectives of stakeholders and their responsibilities; and (c) locating additional related information, resources, and tools that deepen understanding of the problem, context, and stakeholders. The generating solutions phase comprises (a) proposing potential solutions; (b) determining the value of a potential solution; (c) justifying, communicating, and presenting a specific solution; (d) implementing a selected solution; and (e) adapting a solution. Additionally, monitoring (e.g., reflecting on understanding to “develop arguments to support their mental model of the problem space,” Jonassen, 1997 , p. 82) is a phase crossing both problem finding and solution generation.

Learner roles and challenges while problem solving

The problem-solving processes captured in the models cover what learners should be completing as they participate in problem-centered learning experiences. However, previous research suggests novices do not always achieve desired results, even in intentionally designed problem-centered learning (Ertmer & Koehler, 2015 ). For instance, novices commonly spend limited time understanding a problem, skipping to developing solutions (Koehler et al., 2019 ; Ng & Tan, 2006 ; Stepich & Ertmer, 2009 ), list known facts without synthesizing the information into primary issues (Ertmer & Stepich, 2005 ; Law et al., 2020 ), “take available information at face value” without considering underlying principles (Ertmer & Stepich, 2005 , p. 40), and fail to recognize relationships among issues (Ertmer & Stepich, 2005 ; Law et al., 2020 ). Some of these challenges result from novices failing to see value in framing problems and their inexperience with this type of activity (Law et al., 2020 ; Svihla & Reeve, 2016 ).

When generating solutions, novices ignore given constraints (Ertmer & Koehler, 2014 ; Ertmer & Stepich, 2005 ), tend to solve problems in a single step (Ng & Tan, 2006 ), stick to solution strategies they are familiar with (Law et al., 2020 ; Ng & Tan, 2006 ), address the problem space more deeply with support from an active facilitator (Ertmer & Koehler, 2015 ), fail to recognize relationships among solutions (Ertmer & Stepich, 2005 ), and offer rigid solutions (Ertmer & Stepich, 2005 ). Primary factors preventing effective problem solving include an individual’s “domain knowledge” and previous experience as expert “problem solvers have better developed problem schemas, which can be employed more automatically” (Jonassen, 2000 , p. 69).

When regulating problem solving, learners experience challenges while both problem finding (e.g., fail to consider relationships, “prior knowledge,” and “emerging problem representations,” Law et al., 2020 , p. 326) and generating solutions (e.g., adopt a linear approach to selecting a solution, Law et al., 2020 ). Finally, problem-centered learning is typically completed as a collaborative process, necessitating learners to develop skills in regulating the “collective activity” of the group (Häkkinen et al., 2017 ). As a result, collaboration can be challenging for learners as they struggle with managing differing perspectives and articulating a reasonable argument (Häkkinen et al., 2017 ; Koehler et al., 2020 ).

Facilitator role during problem-centered learning

Problem-centered methods (e.g., case-based learning, problem-based learning) can facilitate the development of problem-solving skills in learners (Koehler et al., 2019 ; Pease & Kuhn, 2011 ; Tawfik & Jonassen, 2013 ). In problem-centered learning, students analyze complex problems found in professional settings to gain vicarious experience (Stepich & Ertmer, 2009 ). To create an effective problem-centered learning experience, a facilitator’s ability to design, implement, and manage the learning experience (e.g., asking meaningful questions at the appropriate time) appears to be more influential than specific content expertise (Ertmer & Koehler, 2015 ; Leary et al., 2013 ). Implementing problem-centered methods is challenging for instructors as the facilitation process is non-linear and requires facilitators to provide an appropriate amount of support to learners (Ertmer & Koehler, 2014 ). However, effective facilitation of problem-centered learning includes: planning, implementing, and evaluating (Rico & Ertmer, 2015 ).

Facilitators must start with meaningful planning: selecting an appropriate problem or case on which to center the experience (Rico & Ertmer, 2015 ), mapping out the potential problem space (Ertmer & Koehler, 2014 ; Hmelo-Silver, 2013 ), crafting learning outcomes for the experience (Rico & Ertmer, 2015 ), and developing learning activities that prompt careful consideration of the problem under investigation (e.g., discussions, role-playing; Ertmer & Koehler, 2015 ; Rico & Ertmer, 2015 ). Additionally, as a collaborative experience, facilitators must intentionally structure groups and scaffold the subsequent collaboration (Häkkinen et al., 2017 ; Koehler et al., 2020 ).

At the core of problem-centered learning is collaboration occurring among learners and with the facilitator. Although intentional planning is necessary to establish the initial collaborative direction (Ertmer & Stepich, 2002 ; Kanuka, 2011 ), the facilitator must work in meaningful ways when the interaction is occurring to extend the problem space coverage (Ertmer & Koehler, 2015 ). Facilitators must manage the group’s collaboration, without dominating the conversation (Yew & Yong, 2014 ) and guide sensemaking through affirming ideas and prompting deeper consideration of key issues (Ertmer & Koehler, 2014 , 2015 ; Yew & Yong, 2014 ). To bring closure to the learning experience, the facilitator should prompt students to share lessons learned relevant in future situations (Tawfik & Kolodner, 2016 ).

Finally, the facilitator is responsible for evaluating the resulting learning and developing measures representative of the problem-solving process (Jonassen, 2011 ). A combination of measures can provide a full consideration of a learning experience: peer evaluation forms for gauging collaboration, reflections and rubrics for self-assessment, mapped discussion of coverage of group interactions, and rubrics considering the development and quality of artifacts generated from the problem-solving experience (Ertmer & Koehler, 2014 ; Jonassen, 2011 ; Rico & Ertmer, 2015 ).

Educators use several strategies to support students’ problem-finding activities during problem-centered learning experiences: prompting students to consider problem elements, constraints, and stakeholders via guided discussions (Ertmer & Koehler, 2014 , 2015 , 2018 ; Koehler et al., 2019 ); asking students to consider examples of ill-structured problems and share their own (Ng & Tan, 2006 ; Svihla & Reeve, 2016 ); providing learners opportunities to consider multiple perspectives (Ertmer & Koehler, 2014 , 2015 , 2018 ; Koehler et al., 2019 ; Svihla & Reeve, 2016 ); prompting students to ask questions related to the problems (Svihla & Reeve, 2016 ; Zydney, 2008 ); and stimulating learners’ personal connections with authentic problems (e.g., working with a real client or considering a real-world problem; LaBanca & Ritchie, 2011 ; Svihla & Reeve, 2016 ).

When building learners’ skills related to generating solutions, educators have used many methods: providing worked examples (Jonassen, 2011 ), using libraries of success and failure-based cases (Tawfik & Jonassen, 2013 ), suggesting and evaluating solutions through collaborative discussions (Ertmer & Koehler, 2014 , 2015 , 2018 ), using questioning and “reflective toss” to prompt deeper consideration (Hmelo-Silver & Barrows, 2006 ), requiring peer or expert review for evaluating solutions (Demiraslan Çevik et al., 2015 ; Verleger et al., 2016 ), and requiring learners to generate multiple solutions to a single problem (Ertmer et al., 2019 ).

  • Social media

Social media have become an important mediator of human experience, social interaction, and environmental realities (Deaton, 2015 ). In recent years, educators have increasingly explored social media as a tool to facilitate teaching and learning (Brown & Green, 2015 ; Dennen, 2018 ; Dennen & Rutledge, 2018 ), which has simultaneously stimulated researchers to investigate social media’s role in teaching and learning (Raut & Patil, 2016 ; Selwyn & Stirling, 2016 ).

While no universally accepted definition of social media exists (Tess, 2013 ; Zhao et al., 2013 ), we define social media as internet-based technology supporting multimedia content (e.g., text, audio, video, still image, and animation) and interaction; includes synchronous (e.g., Zoom), semi-synchronous (e.g., WhatsApp), and asynchronous (e.g., discussion forums) communication; and promotes collaboration, information exchange, community formation, content creation, and self-expression (Boyd, 2014 ; Dennen, 2018 ; Zhao et al., 2013 ). Through mobile devices, people can use social media anytime and anywhere (Page, 2012). Greenhow and Lewin ( 2016 ) suggest social media have three typical features: (a) they highlight individual preferences and activity through profile pages; (b) they allow connections among users, between users and information, and between users and locations to be seen (e.g., checking into a location), and (c) they can be updated “dynamically” with embedded content (e.g., videos).

Some examples of social media include social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), blogs (e.g., WordPress), microblogs (e.g., Twitter), wikis (e.g., PBworks), social bookmarking and tagging (e.g., Diigo), media sharing (e.g., YouTube), electronic notepads (e.g., Evernote), collaborative word processing (e.g., Google Docs), idea management and mapping (e.g., Wridea), and animation tools (e.g., PowToon) (Koehler & Ertmer, 2016 ; Koehler et al., 2017 ; Scott et al., 2016 ). Social media tools are constantly being created and evolving (Boyd, 2014 ; Obar & Wildman, 2015 ; Tess, 2013 ). With several social media tools available, educators have many potential options for developing new skills and knowledge (Reiser, 2018 ).

To identify prominent literature on social media in educational contexts, we considered research published in top instructional design journals focused on learning experiences including social media as a key part of the process. This allowed us to capture the results of research related to the intentional use of social media to support instructional efforts and therefore, communicate the potential for individuals interested in using these tools to support the development of problem-solving skills in similar learning experiences. See Table 2 for an overview of findings from highlighted social media research.

Challenges with integrating social media for educational purposes

Believing social media automatically improves education is misleading. Simultaneously, blaming social media for all problems of humanity is inaccurate. These extreme approaches to social media “assume that technologies possess intrinsic powers that affect all people in all situations the same way” (Boyd, 2014 , p. 15). However, technology’s “pros and cons” create a complex interaction between people and social media (Boyd, 2014 , p. 16). In educational settings, teachers must be aware of the benefits of each technology, as well as the disadvantages, as their use can create challenges for parents, educators, and scholars (Boyd, 2014 ).

First, social media feeds are constantly updated with member activity. This intense flow of messages, photos, videos, and links can be overwhelming for learners, leading to cognitive overload (see Hsu, 2015 ; Huang et al., 2013 ; Yen et al., 2015 ). Cognitive overload can especially be an issue when using social media to solve complex problems (Koehler et al., 2017 ). Second, learners using social media must discern quality as they locate information. Social media amplify the circulation of “misinformation (inaccurate information) and disinformation (deceptive information)” (Karvola & Fisher 2013 , para. 1). Social media users can find “too much information, and (…) irrelevant, conflicting, outdated, and noncredible information” (Sin, 2016 , p. 1794). As social media have shifted the role of users from consumers to producers of knowledge (Obar & Wildman, 2015 ), anyone can create content for self-seeking purposes. Students from middle school to college have difficulty determining the credibility of information shared online (McGrew et al., 2017 ).

Third, instructional social media use may lead to distractions for learners (e.g., students check Facebook notifications during class, Fried, 2008 ). Multitasking behavior is detrimental to students’ learning processes (Demirbilek & Talan, 2018 ; Karpinski et al., 2013 ; van der Schuur et al., 2015 ), as they attempt to engage with course and non-course-related activities simultaneously and increase their cognitive load (Kirschner & van Merriënboer, 2013 ). Fourth, integrating social media for educational purposes creates challenges with managing boundaries between personal and formal spaces, specifically regarding student-instructor relationships (McEwan, 2012 ). Although social media offer instructors and students opportunities to build relationships, maintaining privacy is important (Owen & Zwahr-Castro, 2007 ). As social media preserve interactions and shared information (Boyd & Ellison, 2008 ), political views, religious beliefs, and personal activities potentially become available to an entire class, leading to feelings of confusion, discomfort, and embarrassment (McEwan, 2012 ; Owen & Zwahr-Castro, 2007 ). The blurry boundaries between what is private and public on social media can also create serious professional consequences for teachers exhibiting behavior deemed as inappropriate (e.g., posting pictures while holding a gun, Koehler & Besser, 2020 ).

Fifth, research suggests that social media use can have negative effects on users’ self-esteem, leading to depressive tendencies (Ozimek & Bierhoff, 2020 ). As young people view idealized representations of others’ lives on social media, they make comparisons to their own lives, leading to decreased self-esteem in some instances (Steinsbekk et al., 2021 ). Finally, teachers’ beliefs influence their intention to use (Sadaf et al., 2012 ; Teo, 2009 ) and integrate (Li et al., 2019 ; Teo et al., 2008 ) educational technology. If educators perceive the barriers to implementing social media (e.g., academic dishonesty, class disruptions, cyberbullying, O’Bannon & Thomas, 2014 ) to be greater than potential benefits, they are unlikely to integrate social media for educational purposes.

Educational affordances of social media

Social media applications are constantly being created, updated, and discontinued (Dennen, 2018 ). Although educators have many options when designing learning experiences, selecting the most appropriate tool can be challenging if teachers focus on each property of a given tool and miss a clear connection to their context or audience. To overcome these challenges, an alternative approach is to focus on the affordances of a given technology. Broadly, affordances have been conceptualized as “relations between the abilities of organisms and features of the environment” (Chemero, 2003 , p. 189).

Considering the definition of affordance more deeply reveals that affordances for an object vary depending on the organism involved and a given environment: for example, a rock can provide shelter to an ant or serve as a weapon for humans (Gibson, 1986 ). Therefore, affordances are not “properties” of a given environment, but rather the relationships among these different components determine the affordances for an object in a specific situation (Chemero, 2003 ). According to Greeno ( 1994 ),

Gibson's intention was that the affordance is a property of whatever the person interacts with, but to be in the category of properties we call affordances, it has to be a property that interacts with a property of an agent in such a way that an activity can be supported. (p. 340)

Greeno used the term ability to indicate “whatever it is about the agent that contributes to the kind of interaction that occurs” (p. 340), discussed the intrinsic relationship between affordances and abilities, and believed establishing an affordance without determining the ability of the agent interacting with the environment is not possible. Additionally, he argued, “an ability depends on the context of environmental characteristics, or that an affordance depends on the context of an agent's characteristics” (Greeno, 1994 , p. 340). Therefore, suggesting a car affords driving is inappropriate as this affordance exists in relation to a person who knows how to drive. For individuals lacking the ability to drive, cars do not afford driving but might afford transportation.

Finally, affordances are not dependent on the agent’s perception of the affordance or motivation to engage in an activity (Gibson, 1986 ; Greeno, 1994 ). Using social media as an example, Twitter affords publicity to musicians and connections between graduate students and scholars worldwide. Assuming both musicians and graduate students can write, they might use other tools (e.g., Microsoft Word) to compose songs and dissertations. The fact that a musician does not identify Twitter as a medium to publicize their new album or chooses not to publicize it on Twitter does not mean Twitter does not afford the singer publicity. However, if the singer chooses Microsoft Word to publicize their new album, publicity is unlikely because this tool does not afford publicity.

Considering social media affordances used by teachers and students in educational settings allows these agents to move past individual applications to focus on utility to consider and accomplish instructional goals. Across literature on social media for educational and communicative purposes, we located articles that articulated and defined specific affordances of social media versus talking about them in general ways (See Table 3 ). For instance, Xue and Churchill ( 2019 ) completed a systematic literature review related to the educational use of WeChat and analyzed the results section to identify specific educational affordances. In another instance, Rice et al. ( 2017 ) used prior research to create labels for and define social media affordances and then surveyed participants on their potential use.

From selected articles, we studied and compared descriptions of different prominent affordances and grouped recurring ideas. Then, we noted any affordance identified at least three times across articles. From this examination process, we identified five prominent affordances: association, visibility, persistence, searchability, and identity creation. Across different social media applications, these affordances are embodied in different ways (see Table 4 ). We provide a definition of each affordance, consideration of how previous educational social media research relates to the defined affordance, and connections between each affordance and potential support for problem-centered learning.

Association

Social media afford learners opportunities to connect or associate with other individuals or information (Jin, 2018 ; Koehler et al., 2017 ; Manca & Ranieri, 2016 ; Tur & Urbina, 2014 ; Xue & Churchill, 2019 ). These connections and associations can potentially take many forms: interactions and collaborations between learners and others (e.g., peers, instructors, experts) and between learners and diverse contexts (e.g., informal, non-native); educational resource sharing in diverse and integrated formats (e.g., integration of platforms in one place—YouTube shared via Facebook for discussion); and interactions and resources shared with enhanced connections (e.g., geotagged photos can be located and discussed). While on the surface connecting learners to others and information does not seem novel, the way social media can potentially facilitate these interactions offers unique opportunities for negotiating learning experiences.

First, social media offer educators and learners ways to connect with authentic contexts (e.g., communicating with native speakers when learning a new language, Jin, 2018 ; Xue & Churchill, 2019 ), informal learning environments (e.g., connecting instructors and students through more casual means—news sources, podcasts, etc., Xue & Churchill, 2019 ), geographically separated experiences (e.g., “providing a Google Maps link to the actual location of the recorded event,” Cochrane & Bateman, 2010 , p. 6), and hybridized expertise (e.g., contributions “of current and past learners, practicing professionals and other teachers, can encourage the development of social capital,” Manca & Ranieri, 2016 , p. 504). Through these connections, experiences are not limited to the classroom, and learners’ awareness increases (e.g., language, resources, terminology, digital competence, Tur & Urbina, 2014 ). Second, many applications (e.g., Google Suite) allow users to invite contacts to collaborate (Zawawi et al., 2017 ) and support simultaneous access of resources and information to co-create and revise (e.g., collaborating via Google Doc, Bower, 2016 ). Collaboration via social media is also enhanced by combining information with learning resources: mixing “instructional material with information and knowledge sources that, produced elsewhere and available through several channels, influence the design and the delivery of the learning experience” (Manca & Ranieri, 2016 , p. 504). Third, connections and associations via social media occur immediately (Xue & Churchill, 2019 ), with ease (with limited effort users can “spread information, whether by explicitly or implicitly encouraging the sharing of links,” Boyd, 2014 , p. 12), and in many different formats (e.g., text, video, audio, Bower, 2016 ), at diverse times (e.g., a synchronous online meeting versus analyzing an asynchronous image in a discussion forum, Bower, 2016 ), and directly or indirectly (e.g., “directly via IM and e-mail plus interaction via avatars and indirectly through individual profiles,” Sutcliffe et al., 2011 , p. 1056). Finally, the potential of amplification of associations, interactions, and connections is great when using social media due to openness and mass sharing: recording and broadcasting live events, using QR codes to connect to information, and creating RSS feeds (Bower, 2016 ; Tur & Urbina, 2014 ).

Association and the problem-solving process

The association afforded through social media creates formal and informal interactions among learners and with the facilitator during problem-centered learning. Perhaps, the most enhancing aspect of the association afforded through social media is the expansion beyond the classroom to offer learners and facilitators options for supporting and supplementing problem-centered learning experiences.

Problem finding

To articulate the problem space more effectively, both facilitators and learners can associate with others and information in strategic ways. For instance, as a common challenge for novice problem solvers is having limited experience with a problem context (Law et al., 2020 ), social media can situate a context to promote understanding constraints and stakeholder roles. Moghavvemi et al. ( 2018 ) found business students indicated they use YouTube for academic and work purposes (e.g., “to solve problems,” answer questions, “learn new things”), while Yildirim ( 2019 ) found that a Facebook group offered opportunities to math teachers for professional development (e.g., resources and instructional strategies, feedback on posed challenges, and brainstorming on teaching). Either through self-directed or instructor-facilitated methods, learners have access to a variety of resources, both human and informational, created by professional organizations, experts, news organizations, peers, and so on. These associations can help shape learners’ understanding of a problem space by more deeply understanding constraints, stakeholder roles, and diverse perspectives.

Solution generation

Association through social media provides learners new ways to propose and justify solutions and determine the value of a given solution, specifically through gaining alternative viewpoints and critical views from those with which they are interacting. For instance, Chen and Luh ( 2018 ) required industrial design students to upload sketches of their assignments to Facebook to gain feedback from not only peers but all their connections. Learners required to upload their work for a broader discussion achieved higher exam scores compared to the control group not using social media. Within a classroom setting, social media can “blend learning in an informal setting outside school” (Lau et al., 2017 , p. 548). For instance, elementary learners in Lau et al.’s ( 2017 ) research indicated a wiki allowed them to extend their face-to-face connections with peers while collaborating. Similarly, a group of pre-service teachers used Google Docs to manage group collaborations while creating instructional solutions (Koehler et al., 2017 ).

Social media offer individuals the chance to make visible “behaviors, knowledge, preferences, and communication network connections” (Treem & Leonardi, 2013 , p. 150). For instance, when using social media, individuals can “view the number of likes, comments and shared links within each post” (Zawawi et al., 2017 , p. 437), observe “activity of individuals, what they are doing, and the groups they belong to” (Sutcliffe et al., 2011 , p. 1056), and track revisions made while creating content (Koehler et al., 2017 ; Sutcliffe et al., 2011 )—gaining insight into peers’ participation. In addition, social media display connections that would take more effort to uncover (e.g., “Geo-tag original photos,” Cochrane & Bateman, 2010 , p. 5). By seeing the “network diagrams, lists, maps, and other visualizations,” social media users can use these elements to inform how they connect and behave (Sutcliffe et al., 2011 , p. 1054).

Visibility through social media is distinguished from other tool use and non-technology situations in multiple ways. First, the visibility of users’ behaviors and activities on social media has greater potential reach (Boyd, 2014 ). That is, in non-social media situations, while individuals may be aware of the actions of others, social media afford users insight into what is going on with someone with which no recent physical contact has been made or individuals with no existing relationship. At the same time, this visibility of user activity is automatic, as a function of the social media application (e.g., notifications of users’ activities or updates pushed to the feeds of other users, Rice et al., 2017 ), often unintentional (e.g., “interactions are often public by default, private through effort,” Boyd, 2014 , p. 12), and influenced by previous use and interests (e.g., information customized based on user preference, Shane-Simpson et al., 2018 , suggested connections or content based and use, Sutcliffe et al., 2011 ).

Visibility and the problem-solving process

Through social media, learners can use visibility to monitor their problem-finding and generating-solution efforts more closely. Learners can individually track their actions and progress or use cues from peers’ actions to consider different approaches and ideas. Collaboratively, learners can consider the building of ideas or group effectiveness. Across these instances, facilitators have access to individual and group processes that would otherwise be more difficult to uncover. This information can be useful for providing tailored support (e.g., just-in-time scaffolding) and assessments (e.g., considering growth and contributions).

To assist with effective problem finding, visibility allows users to investigate a problem in intentional ways. After completing a business communication course focused on developing students' social media networking skills (e.g., development of a personal learning network), students developed confidence to “research and find potential networking contacts” and introduce themselves “to someone in their network” (Anders, 2018 ). Additionally, within their class, these learners valued considering peers’ perspectives: “If they perceived another student as particularly credible or offering particularly relevant experience, they would seek out and read their blog posts” (p. 24). In both instances, the visibility afforded by the social media applications allowed the students to seek intentional connections and information to support their own development. Similar strategies could be applied to understand a problem space more deeply (e.g., contacting experts based on their activity to consider constraints and diverse perspectives; comparing how peers defined a problem to inform individual understanding).

As learners develop and consider solutions in problem-centered learning environments, visibility offers insight into how their peers are completing the process. For instance, undergraduate students enrolled in an ESL course used online discussion forums to develop their paraphrasing skills. From the visibility afforded from the discussions, learners could observe how their peers were learning writing skills: “Students witnessed peer modeling of not only paraphrasing but also reviewing of other students’ responses” (Tan, 2017 , p. 1247). Reflecting on the visible behaviors, learners can build on their own ideas, leading to more effective solutions. In wikis, learners can collaboratively generate solutions, view a record of contributions, and revert to a previous version (Chu et al., 2017 ).

Preservation and searchability

Although preservation and searchability represent unique affordances, their close relationship makes considering what one offers without the other difficult. When individuals use social media, the content they generate or their communication with others “remains accessible in the same form” after any behavior or interaction has concluded (Treem & Leonardi, 2013 , p. 155). As a result, social media offer users ways to keep a record of previous communication, content generation, interactions, and conversations. Because of this preservation, social media simultaneously affords searchability: “any inquisitive onlooker can query databases and uncover countless messages written by and about others” (Boyd, 2014 , p. 12). For instance, social media preserve activity in many ways: communication forums organized by threads offer “reflective discussion and debate” (p. 772) that can be revisited following an asynchronous conversation, and repositories can be created to store and organize content (e.g., videos, images; Bower, 2016 ). This preservation creates a chronological record that can be shared to widen associations, searched to locate pertinent information for a given learning task, and explored to identify individuals that could lead to meaningful connections (Bower, 2016 ; Sutcliffe et al., 2011 ). Beyond promoting collaborative opportunities, content preserved via social media offers individual support during teaching and learning by providing a “digital trail of students’ thought processes that [enable] students to draw on peers’ ideas and critique in their explorative discovery processes” (Rambe, 2012 , p. 140).

The preservation afforded by social media “enables interactions to take place over time in an asynchronous fashion” (Boyd, 2014 , p. 11). While the preservation generated from social media use is linked to the individuals directly interacting, the availability of the preservation is widespread, largely because of searchability. For instance, while an e-mail conversation between two friends could be printed or forwarded to others, by default, the interaction is limited to only these individuals. However, many social media applications preserve interactions for individuals not directly involved with the initial act and allow both the creator and others to search the communication (e.g., Facebook affords users the option of searching other users’ timeline activity). Additionally, in another form of preservation, some social media applications share “memories” with users reminding them of previous activity (e.g., pictures, conversations).

Preservation, searchability, and the problem-solving process

As a result of preservation and searchability, learners can access, save, and tag resources to support problem solving and search social media applications later to revisit the desired information. These affordances are especially useful for supporting a digital schema of experiences and reflection, a key aspect of the problem-solving process. Additionally, instructors can take a closer look at the ideas being contributed to assess student progress and their own efforts in facilitating problem-centered learning experiences.

From preservation and searchability, learners can consider how others have defined and approached similar or related problems to the one with which they are interacting. Li et al. (2017) investigated LinkedIn users’ approaches to solving technical problems with laptops. Findings revealed users participated in a collaborative process of posing a problem, proposing ideas, discussing the value of proposed ideas, and finally, trying out different options. Learners have access to these preserved conversations and can essentially use these to inform their own understanding of the problem being investigated. In short, preserved, searchability conversations like this can serve as a case library in a sense, which can be an effective support for learners during problem-centered learning (see Tawfik & Jonassen, 2013 ). Yeo and Lee (2013) explored the use of blogs by elementary students to manage personal information. Some learners were able to locate, classify, and save digital resources not only for the immediate task but future tasks too. A similar approach can be useful for students in a problem-centered learning experience to help shape their developing problem-finding skills.

Unlike a face-to-face conversation, conversations via many social media applications (e.g., Facebook timeline, blog comments) can be revisited and used to improve future problem-solving efforts. For instance, learners participating in an online, case-based learning experience shared they revisited discussion posts multiple times, including observing the interactions and feedback between peers’ they admired and others and between the facilitator and peers to shape their future case analyses and discussion participation (Koehler et al., 2020 ). As part of their research to understand the role of blogs in supporting information technology students' learning, Asoodar et al. ( 2014 ) analyzed students’ comments posted on blogs, group chats, and forum entries to determine their level of cognitive engagement. As learners have access to the same records, they could review their blog activities, as related to a problem-solving activity, to self-evaluate their performance.

Identity creation

A key aspect of using social media requires users to create a profile including self-generated content, as well as information developed by others (Ellison & Boyd, 2013 ). Through profile creation and personal and collaborative use, a specific identity is created. Social media provide a collective environment of experience sharing where learners can interact with instructors, peers, and personal contacts to create strong bonds (Bower, 2016 ; Jin, 2018 ; Manca & Ranieri, 2016 ; Sutcliffe et al., 2011 ; Xue & Churchill, 2019 ; Zawawi et al., 2017 ). While cultivating a community using social media, instructors and learners have the opportunity to craft their identities as relevant to the learning task at hand (e.g., “a competent Chinese language user rather than merely a beginning-level learner,” Jin, 2018 , p. 44) and in a safe space (e.g., “democratised communication” so students can voice concerns with the learning experience, Rambe, 2012 , p. 140). Additionally, while generating social media content to prompt or demonstrate understanding and sensemaking, educators and learners can assume many different roles (Bower, 2016 ; Koehler et al., 2017 ; Sutcliffe et al., 2011 ; Xue & Churchill, 2019 ; Zawawi et al., 2017 ). With several options, both educators and learners can select tools aligned to a personal style to meet learning goals.

In social media communities, interactions and learning experiences can be co-managed through the use of notifications (Cochrane & Bateman, 2010 ; Xue & Churchill, 2019 ; Zawawi et al., 2017 ), and knowledge and skill acquisition can be co-evaluated through instructor and peer feedback (Cochrane & Bateman, 2010 ). As all these experiences take place in a community environment, they can offer an atmosphere of support leading to meaningful learning (Rambe, 2012 ; Zawawi et al., 2017 ) and a wider learning context “where learners and instructors share personal and professional interests and aspirations, thus mixing different contexts of learning and social and personal life” (Manca & Ranieri, 2016 , p. 504).

Identity creation and the problem-solving process

Learners are not always prepared to participate in student-centered learning experiences (Koehler et al., 2020 ; Parkes et al., 2015 ). Additionally, social media offer learners the opportunity to craft an intentional identity situated in a specific learning experience: “Networked learning and ‘networking to learn’ helped students see themselves as professionals and helped them take a more self-directed and professional approach to learning” (Anders, 2018 , p. 23). That is, with facilitator guidance, learners can create an identity allowing them to intentionally participate in a problem-centered learning experience as they problem find and generate solutions.

Svihla and Reeve ( 2016 ) argue, “in order for activities such as information gathering, ideation, and evaluation to constitute problem framing, the designer must take ownership of the problem.” By crafting a specific identity as a problem framer when using social media, learners can increase intentionality to enhance problem solving. At the beginning of a problem-centered program or course, learners can be guided to use social bookmarking tools, RSS readers, and blogs focused on emerging industry topics and strategies to inform their developing knowledge base (Koehler & Ertmer, 2016 ). Through these efforts, learners realize their interests, identify areas for growth, and shape a digital identity.

When creating solutions, learners can decide the specific identity they would like to assume as they collect data from peers and generate content (Bower, 2016 ), research existing resources individually before sharing (Zawawi et al., 2017 ), collaboratively construct an artifact with peers (Bower, 2016 ), and integrate multiple tools to manage a single learning goal (Bower, 2016 ; Zawawi et al., 2017 ). Research suggests that blogs implemented for instructional purposes can provide “a supportive environment in which critique, comment and constructive feedback” can take place (Garcia et al., 2015 , p. 887). By completing these activities, learners gain practice with participating in collaborative activities–experiences likely representative of learners’ future professional endeavors.

Supporting problem solving using social media affordances

Educators and researchers should consider shifting focus from selecting specific technologies and instead identify relevant affordances that align well with specific problem-solving activities. By focusing first on the problem-centered learning environment and the specific roles of the facilitator and learners, instructors can then consider how affordances best serve instructional purposes, expand the learning experience beyond classroom walls, and benefit from the experiences, expertise, and interaction from others (see Fig.  1 ).

figure 1

Considerations for implementing social media into problem-centered learning environments

Affordance-supported problem finding and solution generation

To support problem finding and generating solutions, educators must first consider activities offering students practice with some or all phases of the problem-solving process. For instance, case-based instruction (CBI) offers learners the opportunity to independently analyze real-world problems before working “collaboratively to clarify and extend individual interpretations” (Ertmer & Koehler, 2015 , pp. 69–70), commonly involves collaborative discussions to support sensemaking (Ertmer & Koehler, 2015 , 2018 ; Koehler & Ertmer, 2016), and prompts learners to reflect on the analysis process (Koehler et al., 2019 ). Next, educators must consider how learners will engage with specific problem-solving phases during the selected instructional approach.

As previously discussed, when targeting problem finding, a common strategy educators use is prompting learners to consider and share examples of complex problems related to the problem under investigation (Ng & Tan, 2006 ; Svihla & Reeve, 2016 ), and one strategy commonly used to address generating solutions include expert or peer reviewing solutions (Demiraslan Çevik et al., 2016 ). After identifying activities to engage learners with targeted problem-solving phases, educators can identify affordances to enhance the learning experience (See Table 5 ). Finally, educators should consider how the specific affordance is embodied across different social media applications and select an application best serving the specific learning goal. Simultaneously, educators must consider the potential negative effects of using the selected social media application as part of the process and proactively address potential problems as much as possible.

The examples provided in Table 6 illustrate two different approaches to using affordances to support problem-solving skills during CBI. For instance, the problem-finding activity illustrates how the affordances of a single social media application (e.g., Facebook) enhance an instructional activity (e.g., considering problems related to ones in the case); while the solution-generation activity shows how several different social media tools (e.g., LinkedIn, Piktochart, Facebook, Google Docs, blogs, and wikis) can support a single instructional activity (e.g., peer and expert review). On one hand, limiting the number of social media applications involved while facilitating CBI seems reasonable; including one or two applications can reduce confusion and the cognitive load of students and instructors already dealing with complex topics.

On the other hand, using several tools may allow for instructors and learners to reach more creative outcomes, as each affordance is not equivalent across applications. For instance, the visibility afforded through Facebook allows users to see what their friends have shared, liked, and commented on, but it does not offer users access to a revision history of collaboratively generated work, as a wiki would. Therefore, when designing activities and selecting affordances to support instructional goals, educators must be mindful of how specific affordances are embodied in a given application to best serve their needs. Additionally, certain affordances lend themselves to specific instructional activities. For example, as social media afford preservation of content by allowing individuals to revisit previous interactions and content generation, reflective activities where instructors and learners can identify strengths, weaknesses, missed content, and growth are readily supported. Similarly, social media applications affording strong visibility allow instructors and students opportunities to assess learning outcomes.

Finally, an important part of the problem-solving process is monitoring one’s current understanding. The specific affordances available through social media allow learners to monitor their participation in problem-centered learning experiences in ways that would otherwise be much more difficult. That is, learners have countless opportunities to connect with individuals and content to serve their individual needs and goals, select appropriate applications to express understanding, locate individuals within the community to gain individualized support, and review previous contributions and activities to gain a sense of understanding.

As educators make decisions regarding integrating social media into problem-centered learning, focusing on affordances provides a new way of selecting tools meeting educational goals. Using this approach, educators can be informed as to how best support and enhance targeted problem-solving activities.

Educators are increasingly using social media applications successfully to achieve diverse learning goals. While supporting the development of problem-solving skills in learners using technology is not a new approach, social media offer new and exciting opportunities to educators looking to engage learners as they analyze complex problems of practice. To boost chances of success when facilitating problem-solving skills, educators should be intentional with integrating social media into teaching and learning activities: By selecting an effective problem-centered approach, targeting a problem-solving phase(s) paired with a meaningful strategy, identifying social media affordances that support the selected strategy, and considering challenges with the selected social media and the role others can play in the process, learners’ problem finding, solution generation, and monitoring can be supported in meaningful ways.

More research is needed to explore the possibilities of implementing social media to support and enhance problem-centered learning experiences. Arguably, many more effective examples exist in the literature than are efficiently located. For instance, as learners are developing their language skills or drafting industrial design drawings, these illustrate specific examples of problem solving. However, the skills being targeted in these investigations are not labeled in this way. Additionally, to explore the impact of affordance-based approaches on learners’ problem-solving skill development, researchers should compare environments enhanced with social media affordances with other types of support (e.g., non-digital scaffolds, other technologies) and consider how different affordances support specific types of problem-solving behaviors. More research is also needed to examine how educators make decisions around selecting social media affordances while managing challenges when supporting problem solving and to investigate how to best support and train educators to successfully use social media affordances to support the development of problem-solving skills.

As with other innovations, the emergence of social media has come with specific challenges. Arguably, many of these challenges result from users’ inability to effectively manage the power resulting from social media affordances. Although educators must be mindful of the challenges inherent to integrating social media, social media afford possibilities worthy of investigation: association, visibility, preservation, searchability, and identity creation. By implementing these tools as part of the problem-solving process, instructors can simultaneously help learners develop their digital literacy skills to be successful users of social media for academic purposes and to effectively navigate their future personal and professional lives.

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Koehler, A.A., Vilarinho-Pereira, D.R. Using social media affordances to support Ill-structured problem-solving skills: considering possibilities and challenges. Education Tech Research Dev 71 , 199–235 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10060-1

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Social Problem Solving and Depressive Symptoms Over Time: A Randomized Clinical Trial of Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy, Brief Supportive Psychotherapy, and Pharmacotherapy

Daniel n. klein.

Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University

Andrew C. Leon

Department of Psychiatry, Weill-Cornell Medical College

Chunshan Li

Thomas j. d’zurilla, sarah r. black, dina vivian, frank dowling.

Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University

Bruce A. Arnow

Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine

Rachel Manber

John c. markowitz.

Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

James H. Kocsis

Depression is associated with poor social problem-solving, and psychotherapies that focus on problem-solving skills are efficacious in treating depression. We examined the associations between treatment, social problem solving, and depression in a randomized clinical trial testing the efficacy of psychotherapy augmentation for chronically depressed patients who failed to fully respond to an initial trial of pharmacotherapy ( Kocsis et al., 2009 ).

Participants with chronic depression ( n = 491) received Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP), which emphasizes interpersonal problem-solving, plus medication; Brief Supportive Psychotherapy (BSP) plus medication; or medication alone for 12 weeks.

CBASP plus pharmacotherapy was associated with significantly greater improvement in social problem solving than BSP plus pharmacotherapy, and a trend for greater improvement in problem solving than pharmacotherapy alone. In addition, change in social problem solving predicted subsequent change in depressive symptoms over time. However, the magnitude of the associations between changes in social problem solving and subsequent depressive symptoms did not differ across treatment conditions.

Conclusions

It does not appear that improved social problem solving is a mechanism that uniquely distinguishes CBASP from other treatment approaches.

Numerous studies have documented associations between social problem solving and depressive disorders and symptoms. Depressed individuals often exhibit a negative orientation toward problems in living (e.g., appraising a problem as a threat, doubting one’s own problem-solving ability) and deficits in specific problem-solving skills on self-report inventories and performance-based measures ( Dixon et al., 1993 ; Haaga et al., 1995 ; Kant et al., 1997 ; Marx et al., 1992 ; Nezu et al., 1986 ; Reinecke et al., 2001 ).

Hypothesizing that ineffective problem solving plays a role in the etiology and maintenance of depression, several investigators have developed treatments for depression that specifically target social problem solving ( D’Zurilla & Nezu, 2007 ; Mynors-Wallis et al., 1995 ). The efficacy of social problem-solving therapies has been examined in several dozen clinical trials, generally with favorable results (e.g., Areán, et al., 2010; Barrett et al., 2001 ; Mynors-Wallis et al., 1995 , 2000 ; Nezu, 1986 ; Nezu & Perri, 1989 ; Williams et al., 2000 ). In two recent meta-analyses, social problem-solving therapies for depression had a moderate effect size ( Bell & D’Zurilla, 2009 ; Cuipers et al., 2007 ).

The presumptive mechanism through which problem-solving therapies alleviate depression involves their effects on social problem solving. Indeed, several studies have reported that problem-solving therapies produce greater change in social problem solving than comparator treatments and being on a wait-list ( Alexopoulos et al., 2003 ; Nezu, 1986 ; Nezu et al., 1989 ; Nezu et al., 2003 ; Sahler et al., 2002 ; also see Areán et al. [1993 ], who found no significant treatment condition by time interaction, but reported that only problem-solving therapy was associated with significant gains in social problem solving ). Three of these studies also attempted to test mediation more explicitly. In a sample of distressed cancer patients, Nezu et al. (2003) reported that change in social problem solving correlated with change in symptoms. In geriatric patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and deficits in executive functioning, Alexopoulos et al. (2003) found a significant interaction between the effects of treatment condition and improvement in social problem solving on change in depression, which they interpreted as evidence of mediation. Finally, using path models in a sample of mothers of children with recently diagnosed cancer, Sahler et al. (2002) reported that change in social problem solving partially mediated the association between problem-solving skills training and change in negative affect. Unfortunately, in all of these studies data on social problem solving and symptoms were only available at pre- and post-intervention. Hence, it was not possible to determine whether change in social problem solving preceded, followed, or occurred contemporaneously with change in symptoms. Thus, although the extant literature suggests that social problem solving may mediate the antidepressant effects of problem-solving therapies, the specialized nature of the samples and the limited numbers of assessment points do not permit firm conclusions.

The present paper, from the Research Evaluating the Value of Augmenting Medication with Psychotherapy (REVAMP) trial ( Kocsis et al., 2009 ), examines whether the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP; McCullough, 2000 ), an approach that targets interpersonal problem solving in chronic depression, influences depressive symptoms via its effects on social problem solving. This study extends previous investigations by assessing social problem solving and depressive symptoms biweekly throughout treatment, and using time-lagged analyses within a mixed models framework to test whether changes in problem solving predict subsequent depression over time. In addition, we examine whether the associations over time between social problem solving and subsequent depressive symptoms are greater for patients receiving CBASP plus medication than patients receiving Brief Supportive Psychotherapy (BSP) plus medication and patients receiving medication alone.

The larger REVAMP trial tested the efficacy of a stepped treatment strategy in which CBASP or BSP was added to pharmacotherapy switch or augmentation in chronically depressed patients who failed to fully respond to an initial trial of medication. As chronic depression is characterized by poor coping and social adjustment ( Klein & Leader, 1996 ; McCullough et al., 1990 ; Miller et al., 1998 ), a problem-solving intervention may have particular relevance for this population ( McCullough, 2000 ). As described elsewhere ( Kocsis et al., 2009 ), the three treatment conditions (CBASP plus pharmacotherapy, BSP plus pharmacotherapy, and pharmacotherapy alone) produced similar change in depressive symptoms. Hence, although our analyses explore whether the treatment conditions influence depressive symptoms through different mechanisms, they differ from traditional tests of mediation; rather than determining whether change in social problem solving accounts for differential treatment effects, we examine whether the magnitude of the associations over time between social problem solving and subsequent depressive symptoms differ between treatment conditions. We address three specific questions: (a) do CBASP plus pharmacotherapy produce greater change in social problem solving than BSP plus pharmacotherapy and pharmacotherapy alone; (b) is social problem solving associated with subsequent depression over time; and (c) is this association stronger for CBASP than for each of the two comparison treatments conditions?

REVAMP consisted of two 12-week phases. During phase 1, patients were assigned to receive an antidepressant medication according to a pharmacotherapy algorithm, and their response was evaluated. Patients achieving less than full remission were randomized into phase 2. Full remission was defined by concomitantly meeting the following three conditions: a) ≥ 60% reduction in Hamilton Scale for Depression [HAM-D] score, b) a 24-item HAM-D total score less than 8, and c) no longer meeting DSM-IV criteria for MDD for 2 consecutive visits during weeks 6 through 12. Phase 2 participants all received the next-step treatment in the pharmacotherapy algorithm and were randomly assigned to one of three treatment cells in a 2:2:1 ratio: to have CBASP or BSP added to their pharmacotherapy or to receive medication alone. The 12-week duration for phase 2 mirrored the length of treatment in a previous chronic depression study by our group ( Keller et al., 2000 ; Schatzberg et al., 2005 ) and the STAR*D study ( Thase et al., 2007 ).

Participants

Patients were recruited at eight sites through outreach to clinicians and advertising. All patients met criteria for a current episode of MDD as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4 th edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994 ) and assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis-I Disorders, Patient Edition (SCID-P; First et al., 1996 ). The MDD episode had to have a minimum duration of at least four weeks and the patient had to have experienced depressive symptoms for more than two years without remission. Thus, participants met criteria for double depression (current MDD episode with antecedent dysthymic disorder), chronic MDD, or recurrent MDD with incomplete recovery between episodes. Interviews were conducted by experienced raters who had been certified in the SCID by an expert rater at another site based on a videotaped interview.

Patients were between 18 and 75 years old, had scores of at least 20 on the 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D; Guy, 1976 ) at baseline, were fluent in English, and provided signed informed consent. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy; current diagnosis of any psychotic disorder; history of bipolar disorder; dementia; current principal diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder, anorexia, bulimia nervosa, or obsessive-compulsive disorder; antisocial, schizotypal, or severe borderline personality disorder; and current alcohol or other substance-related dependence disorder (except nicotine dependence) requiring detoxification. Patients with substance abuse disorders were permitted to enroll if they agreed to participate in Alcoholics Anonymous or chemical dependence counseling and to implement a sobriety plan in conjunction with study treatment. Also excluded were patients previously treated with CBASP, those who had already failed at least four of the treatment steps in the pharmacotherapy algorithm, those unwilling to terminate other forms of psychiatric treatment, and those had serious unstable or terminal medical illness that might compromise study participation.

Pharmacotherapy

The pharmacotherapy algorithm (see Kocsis et al., 2009 ) was based on empirically derived algorithms such as the Texas Medication Algorithm Project and the STAR*D study ( Crismon et al., 1999 ; Fava et al., 2003 ). The sequence began with two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), sertraline hydrochloride and escitalopram oxalate. Bupropion hydrochloride was prescribed for patients who reported no response to two adequate SSRI trials or to augment treatment in those who responded only partially to an SSRI. Patients who had not benefited from these medications were offered additional options, including venlafaxine hydrochloride, mirtazapine, and lithium carbonate augmentation.

The protocol specified minimum and maximum doses, speed of dosage escalation, and trial lengths after each change. Patients were evaluated every two weeks. To minimize attrition, a patient intolerant to a medication during the first four weeks of Phase 1 could be moved to the next level of the sequence. No other psychotropic medications were permitted other than zolpidem tartrate and zaleplon for insomnia. Pharmacotherapists followed the manual by Fawcett et al. (1987) from the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program (NIMH TDCRP; Elkin et al., 1989 ), with minimal psychotherapeutic intervention. During the randomized phase of the study, sessions were audiotaped and reviewed for adherence to guidelines. Bimonthly supervision by senior pharmacotherapists helped to ensure adherence. Patients were given packets of pills containing their daily dose for the interval between visits. At each visit, pharmacotherapists asked patients about treatment adherence and to return unused pills.

Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy

CBASP is a manualized, time-limited, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy developed specifically to treat chronic depression ( McCullough, 2000 , 2001 ). Its goals are to help patients change their patterns of coping, improve their interpersonal skills, understand the consequences of their thoughts and behavior, and interact more effectively with others. The core procedure in CBASP involves training patients to apply a structured interpersonal problem-solving algorithm, referred to as situational analysis (SA). In SA, patients identify a recent distressing interpersonal situation and examine it with the therapist. The process consists of three phases: elicitation, remediation, and generalization. In the elicitation phase, patients describe: (a) the specific situation, (b) their thoughts during the situation, (c) their behavior, (d) the outcome of the encounter, (e) the outcome they would have desired, and (f) whether the desired outcome was achieved. In the remediation phase, patients work with therapists to identify alternative thoughts, behaviors, and/or desired outcomes during the situation to increase the probability of achieving a realistic and attainable desired outcome. Among the many problem-solving strategies that might be employed in this phase include several designed either to formulate a more realistic desired outcome or goal, or devise more effective means of achieving the goal including: (1) assisting the patient to identify a behaviorally specific desired outcome, in cases where this is not clear; (2) examining how achievable the desired outcome is and reformulating the goal when it is unrealistic or unattainable; (3) helping the patient to prioritize a single desired outcome in cases where multiple goals are presented; (4) examining the extent to which the individual’s thoughts are consistent with, and likely to increase the probability of achieving, the desired outcome, and generating alternative ways of thinking about the problem that might increase the chances of attaining the individual’s goal; (5) examining whether the individual’s behaviors are consistent with, and likely to maximize the probability of achieving, the desired outcome, and generating alternative behaviors that may be more successful; and (6) using role plays to expand on and rehearse alternate behavioral strategies that may increase the probability of achieving the desired outcome. In the generalization phase, patients and therapists review what has been learned and explore how the patient’s new understanding and skills can be applied to similar situations in the past and future.

SA was introduced during the third session. Patients were assigned the task of self-monitoring distressing interpersonal situations between sessions using the Coping Style Questionnaire ( McCullough, 2000 , 2001 ). Patients brought this material into each session and it became the focus of SAs.

CBASP sessions were held twice weekly during weeks 1–4 and weekly during weeks 5–12. Up to four more sessions could be added during weeks 5–8 if the patient needed additional time to master SA, for a total of 16–20 sessions. Therapists and supervisors were trained and certified in CBASP by James P. McCullough, Jr. who developed the therapy. Therapists were required to have at least two years of clinical experience after completing a Ph.D. in Psychology or psychiatric residency, or five years of experience after completing a Masters in Social Work degree. Therapists met with site supervisors weekly. Therapy sessions were videotaped, and McCullough and the site supervisors monitored the integrity of the therapists’ adherence to protocol using a CBASP Therapist Adherence Rating Scale that ensures that CBASP specific behaviors are administered competently and behaviors foreign to CBASP are not used.

Brief Supportive Psychotherapy

As defined in an unpublished treatment manual ( Markowitz & Sacks, 2002 ), BSP emphasizes the nonspecific or “common” factors assumed to be important ingredients across psychotherapies ( Frank, 1971 ; Rogers, 1951 ), including reflective listening, empathy, evoking affect, therapeutic optimism, and acknowledgment of patients’ assets. Specific interpersonal, cognitive, behavioral, and psychodynamic interventions, and especially situational analyses, were strictly proscribed. Paralleling the CBASP condition, 16–20 BSP sessions were scheduled during the 12 weeks of treatment. The BSP therapists’ professional degrees, amount of clinical experience, training, and supervision were comparable to those of the CBASP therapists. The certification and training procedures were led by JCM (see Markowitz, Manber & Rosen, 2008 ).

Adherence Monitoring

During the randomized phase of the study, all treatments (including pharmacotherapy) were monitored to ensure therapist adherence to protocol. All psychotherapy sessions were videotaped and all pharmacotherapy sessions were audiotaped. For each psychotherapy therapist-patient dyad, one or two tapes were randomly selected—one early (sessions 2–6) and onefrom later in treatment (session 8 or later)—and rated in their entirety using the Collaborative Study Psychotherapy Rating Scale from the NIMH TDCRP ( Elkin et al., 1989 ) and the Therapist Adherence Rating Scale. Adherence ratings were conducted at the Cornell site by two trained raters with established reliability.

Randomization

Randomization was done centrally at the data coordinating center and was stratified by site, phase 1 response status (ie, no response or partial response), and medication history (failure to respond to < 3 adequate medication trials, including the trials during phase 1 of this study, versus failure to respond to ≥ 3 adequate medication trials). A randomization allocation ratio of 2:2:1 (CBASP plus medication:BSP plus medication:Medication alone) was used.

Social Problem Solving

Patients completed the Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R) ( D’Zurilla, Nezu, & Maydeu-Olivares, 2002 ) on a biweekly basis beginning in the second week after randomization, prior to commencing work on SA in the CBASP condition. The SPSI-R is a 52-item self-report measure of social problem solving based on the classic model developed by D’Zurilla and Goldfried (1971) and expanded and refined by D’Zurilla and Nezu (1982 , 2007) . According to this model, two major processes determine real-world problem-solving outcomes: problem orientation, a motivational process involving a set of relatively stable cognitive schemas that reflect a general awareness of everyday problems and the individual’s own problem solving-ability; and problem solving proper. Problem solving proper involves the rational application of four major problem-solving skills: problem definition and formulation; generation of alternative solutions; decision making; and solution implementation and verification.

The SPSI-R assesses five factor-analytically derived dimensions: positive problem orientation; negative problem orientation; rational problem solving (including subscales for each of the four major problem-solving skills listed above); impulsivity/carelessness style; and avoidance style. The SPSI-R has excellent psychometric properties, including high internal consistency and test-retest stability, and good convergent and discriminant validity ( D’Zurilla & Nezu, 1990 ; D’Zurilla et al., 2002 ; D’Zurilla & Maydeu-Olivares, 1995 ). For example, the SPSI-R is significantly related to independent global judgments of problem-solving competence in the real world, as well as to other problem solving inventories. In addition, it is distinguishable from related constructs such as intelligence, experiential coping, optimism, pessimism, and positive and negative trait affectivity ( D’Zurilla & Maydeu-Olivares, 1995 ).

Although McCullough’s model and D’Zurilla’s models were developed relatively independently, there is considerable convergence between them. In the course of completing the SA procedure, CBASP addresses the four problem-solving skills that comprise problem-solving proper in D’Zurilla’s model. The elicitation stage of SA is designed to identify and define problematic interpersonal situations, which then become the basis for further analysis (problem identification and formulation). The remediation phase of SA emphasizes the generation of alternative approaches and strategies with a higher probability of achieving the desired goal and/or the generation of alternative goals that may be more realistic and attainable (generation of alternative solutions). In the remediation phase, patients also work on the decision-making process, as they must learn to select an outcome that is both desirable and potentially achievable, and determine which cognitions and behaviors are most likely to achieve that goal (decision-making). Between-session homework assignments are designed to give patients opportunities to implement their new problem-solving skills in real-world contexts, and these attempts are reviewed in the next session (solution implementation and verification). Finally, CBASP addresses avoidant and impulsive/careless problem-solving styles by requiring patients to apply the SA approach to problematic situations both between and within sessions, and examining the situations and their problem-solving efforts in a very specific and concrete manner. While CBASP does not directly address problem orientations, D’Zurilla and Nezu (2007) have argued that the most powerful influence on improvement in problem orientation is likely to be successful problem-solving performance (CBASP’s primary target), rather than cognitive restructuring or other procedures that focus directly on problem orientation.

Depressive symptoms

Independent evaluators assessed depressive symptoms every two weeks using the 24-item HAM-D ( Guy, 1976 ). We chose the 24-item version of the HAM-D because it contains cognitive items characteristic of chronically depressed patients and has been used in all previous major chronic depression studies. Evaluations were performed by experienced raters who were certified on an annual basis by independently rating videotapes of criterion evaluations. Raters were unaware of patients’ treatment condition. Raters’ and clinicians’ offices were physically separated at each site, and raters instructed patients at the beginning of each assessment session not to mention psychotherapy or their psychotherapist during the interviews.

Data Analysis

The randomized treatment groups were compared on baseline demographic and clinical variables. Analyses of variance or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare the groups on continuous or ordinal variables. We used χ 2 tests for categorical variables. Similar analyses compared dropouts and completers on baseline demographic and clinical variables. Each statistical test in this report had a 2-tailed alpha level of .05. The general data analytic strategy for efficacy used mixed effects linear regression models because they are flexible enough to account for different numbers of observations per subject. Furthermore, this modeling procedure can account for the changing symptomatic state of subjects over the course of the trial. The models included 2 random effects (intercept and slope) and fixed effects for treatment, site, time, and response status at the end of phase 1 of the study (non-remission or partial remission). To examine interactions, cross-product terms for treatment X time were added to the model and improvement in model fit was compared using the log-likelihood ratio test. The first set of models focused on the effects of treatment condition on social problem solving over time. The second set of models examined whether the associations between problem solving and subsequent depressive symptoms over time differed between treatment conditions. In these models, SPSI-R scores were lagged two weeks behind HAM-D scores. That is, SPSI-R scores at week 2 predicted HAM-D scores at week 4; SPSI-R scores at week 4 predicted HAM-D scores at week 6; and so on through SPSI-R scores at week 10 predicting HAM-D scores at week 12.

Eight hundred and eight patients enrolled in phase 1. Phase 1was completed by 632 (78.2%) patients, 491 (77.7 %) of whom failed to remit and entered phase 2. Table 1 provides the clinical and demographic characteristics of the 491 participants enrolled in phase 2 by randomization group. The only statistically significant difference among the groups randomized to the three treatment conditions was a slightly higher percentage of whites randomized to psychotherapy plus medication versus medication alone.

Descriptive characteristics of sample

Note: CBASP = Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy plus medication; BSP = Brief Supportive Psychotherapy plus medication; Meds = Medication. Different superscripts indicate that groups differ at p < .05 in pairwise comparisons.

Patients assigned to BSP attended a mean (SD) of 13.1(7.0) therapy sessions, and patients assigned to CBASP attended 12.5 (6.6) sessions. The mean (SD) numbers of pharmacotherapy visits were 5.4 (1.4), 5.3 (1.5), and 5.2 (1.5) in the CBASP, BSP, and medication only groups, respectively.

Adherence ratings were conducted on 84 BSP, 68 CBASP, and 52 pharmacotherapy sessions. Only one CBASP session, and no BSP and pharmacotherapy sessions, were rated as having inadequate adherence to protocol.

Effects of treatment on social problem solving

Table 2 presents HAM-D and SPSI-R total scores at each assessment as a function of treatment condition. First, we compared the effects of the three treatment conditions on social problem solving. There were significant differences among the three treatment conditions on the trajectories of social problem solving for the total SPSI-R score and all subscale scores except Negative Problem Orientation (see Table 3 ). For the total SPSI-R score, patients receiving CBASP plus medication showed significantly greater improvement in social problem solving over time than patients receiving BSP plus medication (coefficient = 0.0999; SE = 0.0294; z = 3.39, p < .001), and a trend for greater improvement than patients receiving medication alone (coefficient = 0.0614; SE = 0.0362; z = 1.69, p = .09). Patients receiving BSP plus medication and patients receiving medication alone did not differ on change in social problem solving over time (coefficient = 0.0385; SE = 0.0365; z = 1.06, p = .29). Methods for calculating effect sizes for mixed models are not well-developed, hence we computed Cohen’s d for the pairwise comparisons between groups on change from baseline total SPSI-R score and the last observation carried forward. The effects for the comparisons between CBASP plus medication and the two comparison conditions were medium in size (.34 and .29, for BSP plus medication and medication alone, respectively). The magnitude of the difference between the BSP plus medication and medication alone was small (d = .03).

Means and Standard Deviations for HAM-D and SPSI-R total and five subscales as function of treatment condition and week of treatment.

Note. HAM-D = Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; SPSI-R = Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised; AS = Avoidance Style; ICS = Impulsivity/Carelessness Style; NPO = Negative Problem Orientation; PPO = Positive Problem Orientation; RPS = Rational Problem Solving; CBASP = Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy; BSP = Brief Supportive Psychotherapy

Models testing effects of treatment on social problem solving over time

Note. SPSI = Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised; AS = Avoidance Style; ICS = Impulsivity/Carelessness Style; NPO = Negative Problem Orientation; PPO = Positive Problem Orientation; RPS = Rational Problem Solving.

Turning to the SPSI-R subscales, patients receiving CBASP plus medication exhibited significantly greater increases in rational problem solving than patients receiving BSP plus medication and patients receiving medication alone (coefficient = .4993; SE = .1340; z = 3.73, p < .001, and coefficient = .1052; SE = .0457; z = 2.30, p = .02, respectively). Patients receiving CBASP plus medication also exhibited significantly greater increases in positive problem orientation than patients receiving BSP plus medication and patients receiving medication alone (coefficient = .1201; SE = .0369; z = 3.25, p = .001, and coefficient = .1052; SE = .0457; z = 2.30, p = .02, respectively). However, patients receiving BSP plus medication did not differ from those receiving medication alone on change in rational problem solving and positive problem orientation (coefficient = −.0964; SE = .1673; z = −0.58, p = .56, and coefficient = −.0149; SE = .0459; z = −0.32, p = .75, respectively).

Interestingly, patients receiving BSP plus medication exhibited significantly less change in avoidant problem solving over time than patients receiving CBASP plus medication and patients receiving medication alone (coefficient = −.1236; SE = .0492; z = −2.51, p = .01, and coefficient = −.1248; SE = .0614; z = −2.03, p = .04, respectively). Patients receiving BSP plus medication also exhibited significantly less change in impulsivity/carelessness over time than patients receiving CBASP plus medication, with a similar trend compared to patients receiving medication alone (coefficient = −.1537; SE = .0593; z = −2.59, p < .01, and coefficient = −.1255; SE = .0737; z = −1.70, p = .09, respectively). In contrast, patients receiving CBASP plus medication did not differ from those receiving medication alone on levels of avoidant and impulsivity/careless problem solving over time (coefficient = .0012; SE = .0611; z = 0.02, p = .98, and coefficient = −.0282; SE = .0733; z = −0.38, p = .70, respectively).

Does social problem solving predict subsequent depressive symptoms over time?

As treatment did not significantly influence the trajectory of scores on the negative problem orientation subscale, this subscale was excluded from further analyses. We next estimated main effects only models to examine the association over time between social problem solving and subsequent depressive symptoms. In the model for total SPSI-R scores, there were significant effects for a) time, indicating that HAM-D scores decreased over time (coefficient = −.4804; SE = .0477; z = −10.07, p < .001); b) phase 1 response status (coefficient = −6.7573; SE = .6379; z = −10.59, p < .001), indicating a greater decline in HAM-D scores among patients who entered the randomized phase as non-responders rather than partial responders; and c) total SPSI-R score (coefficient = −.3136; SE = .0707; z = −4.44, p < .001), indicating that as social problem solving increased over time, depressive symptoms at the next visit declined. The effects of site and treatment condition on HAM-D scores over time were not significant.

The main effects only models for the subscales were generally consistent with the main effects only model for the total SPSI-R. In the main effects only models for the subscales, time and phase 1 remission status significantly predicted the trajectory of HAM-D scores, whereas site and treatment condition did not. Positive problem orientation predicted a reduction in depressive symptoms (coefficient = −.1320; SE = .0493; z = −2.68, p = .007), while impulsive/careless and avoidant styles were associated with greater depressive symptoms over time (coefficient = .0800; SE = .0302; z = 2.65, p = .008 and coefficient = .1466; SE = .0344; z = 4.26, p < .001, respectively). Rational problem solving did not predict the trajectory of depressive symptoms over time.

Does treatment condition influence the associations between social problem solving and subsequent depressive symptoms over time?

In order to determine whether the temporal associations between social problem solving and subsequent depressive symptoms differed as a function of treatment condition, we ran five models adding the main effect of treatment and the corresponding treatment by SPSI-R interaction term to the main effects models described above for the total SPSI-R scale and the negative problem orientation, avoidant style, and impulsivity/carelessness style subscales. As shown in Table 4 , adding the interaction term did not significantly improve the fit of any of the five models, indicating that the association between social problem solving and subsequent depressive symptoms over time did not differ between treatment conditions.

Models testing interaction of treatment and social problem solving on depression over time

We re-analyzed these data using cumulative change in social problem solving between first assessment and time t to predict change in lagged HAM-D scores from time t to time t + 1. The models including treatment X social problem solving interaction terms for the total SPSI-R and subscales again failed to provide a significant increment in fit when compared to the corresponding main effects only model.

We addressed three questions in this study: (a) does CBASP plus pharmacotherapy produce greater change in social problem solving than BSP plus pharmacotherapy and pharmacotherapy alone; (b) is social problem solving associated with subsequent reductions in depressive symptoms; and (c) is this association stronger for CBASP than for the two comparison treatments conditions? We found that patients who received CBASP plus pharmacotherapy exhibited significantly, greater gains in social problem solving than patients who received BSP plus pharmacotherapy. In addition, there was a trend for patients in the CBASP condition to exhibit greater improvement in social problem solving than patients receiving medication alone. Examining specific forms of social problem solving, patients receiving CBASP plus medication exhibited significantly greater increases in rational problem solving and positive problem orientation than patients in either of the other two conditions. In addition, patients receiving BSP plus medication exhibited significantly less change in avoidant problem solving than patients in the other two conditions, and significantly less change in impulsive problem solving than patients receiving CBASP plus medication.

The differences in change in social problem solving tended to be greatest between the two psychotherapy augmentation conditions, with the pharmacotherapy alone condition occupying an intermediate position. This raises the possibility that BSP may have hindered some aspects of problem solving, perhaps by reinforcing emotion-focused coping strategies. However, this should not be overinterpreted, as BSP plus pharmacotherapy did not differ from pharmacotherapy alone on change in the total SPSI-R.

The present findings are consistent with prior studies that found problem-solving therapy was associated with greater improvement in social problem solving than comparison conditions, such as supportive therapy and being on a waiting-list ( Alexopoulos et al., 2003 ; Nezu, 1986 ; Nezu et al., 1989 ; Nezu et al., 2003 ; Sahler et al., 2002 ). Importantly, this study extended past work by examining a more severe and chronic sample than most previous studies.

We also found that gains in social problem solving predicted subsequent reductions in depressive symptoms over time. Several other studies reported an association between change in social problem solving and change in depression ( Alexopoulos et al., 2003 ; Nezu et al., 2003 ; Sahler et al., 2002 ). However, unlike the present study, these studies assessed both variables only at baseline and follow-up, hence the direction of the association could not be determined.

As CBASP plus medication predicted greater change in social problem solving and gains in social problem solving predicted declines in depression over time, one might expect that patients in the CBASP condition would have better outcomes than patients in the comparison conditions. However, as reported in our previous article ( Kocsis et al., 2009 ) and confirmed in the analyses in the present paper, the three treatment conditions did not differ on depression outcomes. This pattern of findings suggests that different treatments influence depressive symptoms through different processes. If so, and social problem solving plays a greater role in alleviating depression in CBASP than other treatment approaches, then one might expect that change in social problem solving would be closely linked to change in depressive symptoms over time in the CBASP condition. Contrary to our hypotheses, however, the interaction of treatment condition with the association between social problem solving and lagged depression scores did not approach significance. Instead, the magnitude of the relation between change in social problem solving and subsequent depression was similar regardless of whether or not patients received CBASP.

Taken together, this pattern of findings suggests that while CBASP plus medication may produce greater gains in social problem solving than BSP plus medication and, at a trend level, pharmacotherapy alone, and that better social problem solving is associated with subsequent improvements in depressive symptoms, this mechanism may be common across treatments. That is, to the extent that any treatment positively influences social problem solving, a decline in depressive symptoms is likely to follow. However, it important to consider that possibility that problem solving does play a somewhat greater role in producing change in CBASP, but that despite our large sample, we did not have sufficient power to detect this effect. A more thorough dismantling of the specific aspects of CBASP that enhance problem solving and consideration of the ways in which the intervention might be augmented to strengthen its effect may be useful, given that problem solving appears to be an important, and teachable, aspect of coping. Alternatively, although there is considerable convergence between the processes targeted in CBASP and the constructs assessed by the SPSI-R, it is conceivable that a problem-solving measure that was specifically designed for CBASP might have greater sensitivity.

This study had a number of strengths, including a large, carefully characterized sample and multiple assessments of social problem solving and depressive symptoms over time. However, several limitations should be considered. First, CBASP is an integrative treatment. Although training in interpersonal problem solving is a central component, CBASP also addresses long-standing maladaptive interpersonal patterns, dysfunctional cognitions, social skills deficits, and problems in the therapeutic relationship ( McCullough, 2000 ). Hence, it is conceivable that the results would differ for treatments that focus more narrowly on social problem solving. Second, treatment was limited to 16–20 sessions over 12 weeks. Although this was more intensive than most problem-solving therapies (D’Zurilla & Nezu, 1999; Mynors-Wallis et al., 1995 ), the patients in this sample were considerable more severe and chronic than in most previous problem-solving trials. Hence, a longer duration of treatment might be needed to isolate specific therapeutic mechanisms for this population. Third, all patients in the CBASP condition received concomitant pharmacotherapy and had previously experienced at least one unsuccessful medication trial. This may have adversely influenced some patients’ motivation to fully engage with CBASP and situational analysis, attenuating its effects on social problem solving. Fourth, assessments were conducted biweekly, and we examined only a two-week lag between social problem solving and depressive symptoms. It is possible that the effects of social problem solving on depressive symptoms unfold over much shorter or longer intervals, reducing the sensitivity of our analyses. Fifth, we used a self-report inventory to assess social problem solving. Although the SPSI-R is the most widely used and best-validated social problem-solving measure, other approaches, such as performance-based measures or experience sampling methods, might conceivably yield different results. Finally, patients were treated at academic centers, hence may not be entirely representative of chronically depressed patients in treated in community settings.

In conclusion, in a large, randomized clinical trial of chronically depressed patients, we found that CBASP in conjunction with medication produced significantly greater improvement in social problem solving than BSP plus medication, and a similar trend compared to pharmacotherapy alone. In addition, change in social problem solving predicted subsequent change in depressive symptoms over time. However, the magnitude of the associations between changes in social problem solving and subsequent depressive symptoms did not differ between treatment conditions. Hence, these findings fail to support the hypothesis that improved social problem solving, as measured by the SPSI-R, is a mechanism that uniquely distinguishes CBASP, despite its emphasis on addressing social problem-solving deficits, from other treatment approaches.

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REVAMP Consort Chart

Acknowledgments

The study was supported by National Institute of Mental Health grants U01 MH62475; U01 MH61587; U01 MH62546; U01 MH61562; U01 MH63481; U01 MH62465; U01 MH61590; U01 MH61504; and U01 MH62491. Trial Registration is: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT00057551","term_id":"NCT00057551"}} NCT00057551 .

Thomas D’Zurilla is a recipient of royalties in relation to the SPSI-R. John Markowitz receives royalties from National Psychiatric Press, Basic Books and Oxford Press. John Markowitz also receives and Editorial stipend from Elsevier Press. Andrew Leon is on the Safety Monitoring Boards for Pfizer, Astra Zenica, Sunovion and is a consultant for NIMH, MedAvante, and Roche. James Kocsis has a research contract from Forest Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of Lexapro.

Publisher's Disclaimer: The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/pubs/journals/ccp

Contributor Information

Daniel N. Klein, Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University.

Andrew C. Leon, Department of Psychiatry, Weill-Cornell Medical College.

Chunshan Li, Department of Psychiatry, Weill-Cornell Medical College.

Thomas J. D’Zurilla, Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University.

Sarah R. Black, Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University.

Dina Vivian, Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University.

Frank Dowling, Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University.

Bruce A. Arnow, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine.

Rachel Manber, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine.

John C. Markowitz, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

James H. Kocsis, Department of Psychiatry, Weill-Cornell Medical College.

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Free resources, how social problem solving and social skills deficits in autism impact behavior.

THE INTERSECTION OF SOCIAL SKILLS AND CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR FOR STUDENTS IWTH AUTISM. EPISODE 69

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Social Problem Solving and its Impact on Behavior: Episode 69 Autism Classroom Resources Podcast

In this episode, I am exploring how social skills deficits, and specifically difficulties with social problem solving, impact the behavior of students with autism, particularly those who are working in general education classrooms. One of the areas that I see many students struggle with in schools is how to handle those situations that occur in recess, at lunch, in group assignments or other unstructured times when something unexpected happens. Those are the times that our students with ASD may respond in a way that makes sense to them, but may not always make sense to those around them.

Social competence, which is how I often refer to the larger approach to social skills, is a very huge deal. It encompasses a lot of different skills and abilities. Some of these are specific, definable skills. For instance, when to say hello to someone. But others involve more esoteric, less easily observed skills.

Episode 69 Highlights

In this episode, I’m talking about how deficits in social problem solving puts our students at risk for negative behavior.

I will also talk about why we need to look at social skills and social problem solving as part of our functional behavior assessment .

And why we need to incorporate social problem solving instruction into our students’ curriculum to prevent challenging behavioral issues.

Finally, I’ve got a free tool that to download in the post for this episode that can help to remind them of some social problem solving strategies.

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Social Problem Solving and its Impact on Behavior: Episode 69 Autism Classroom Resources Podcast

This week, I am exploring how social skills deficits, and specifically difficulties with social problem solving, impact the behavior of students with autism, particularly those who are working in general education classrooms. One of the areas that I see many students struggle with in schools is how to handle those situations that occur in recess, at lunch, in group assignments or other unstructured times when something unexpected happens. Those are the times that our students with ASD may respond in a way that makes sense to them, but may not always make sense to those around them.

The Student In the Gym

For instance, a student who found himself in a gym locker room unsupervised. Other kids were teasing him and giving him a hard time. He was feeling threatened and wanted them to stop. But he didn’t know how to remove himself from the situation or ask them to stop. He didn’t have the skill or know the right thing to do. So, he said something threatening that he had heard in a movie when someone was feeling uncomfortable. He told them he would come back and beat them up. They left him alone (so it worked), but they also told the principal and he was suspended. Knowing him, he had no intention to act upon that threat. But the other students and administrators wouldn’t know that.

It was poor social problem solving on his part. He didn’t know how to ask them to leave him alone or remove himself from the situation in a more appropriate way. He didn’t have social skills at his finger tips for handling that situation.

But he also couldn’t figure out why they were teasing him and how to address it. He didn’t have the ability interpret what they might be thinking. He simply didn’t have good social problem solving for the situation. And his behavior got him into trouble.

In this episode, I’m talking about how deficits in social problem solving puts our students at risk for negative behavior.

And why we need to incorporate social problem solving instruction into our students’ curriculum to prevent challenging behavioral issues.

Finally, I’ve got a free tool that to download in the post for this episode that can help to remind them of some social problem solving strategies. You can find that at autismclassroomresources.com/episode69.

So let’s get started.

The Impact of Social Problem Solving on Behavior

Students on the spectrum often have difficulty interpreting others’ behavior, predicting what others might be thinking, and determining that right action to take based on particular situations. They often struggle with reading the nonverbal cues of body language and tone of voice. And all of that together means that they can have difficulty knowing how to respond in social situations.

Like the student in the gym, that means that the way they respond to situations may not be the best options. These are students whose challenging behaviors are often more esoteric than just aggression. It might be categorized as a “meltdown.” Or it might be a group of behaviors that get conveyed as being rude, uncommunicative, shutting down, refusing to participate in activities, etc.

Sometimes these behaviors look just rude or antisocial rather than being a result of not being able to “read the room” or understand the social context. But they also sometimes lead to some big social misunderstanding that can get these students into bigger trouble.

The Importance of Social Problem Solving in Behavior Assessment and Support

Given the impact that social problem solving deficits can have on these students’ behavior, it’s critical that we address them in our assessments and interventions. That leads to two avenues.

In the FBA, we need to include a focus on their social skills and problem solving. We probably don’t need a formal assessment tool. But in our interviews and observations, we should be looking for how the student manages in social situations.

Then, in our interventions, we should be including strategies for addressing social problem solving. These are critical replacement skills given that some of the challenging behaviors may be the result of poor social problem solving and deficits in social skills. And we need to make sure that this training is intensive and not just happening as needed. If students are demonstrating challenging behavior, they need explicit interventions.

Teaching Social Problem Solving to Prevent Challenging Behavior

If the student’s behavior does not rise to the level of needing an FBA (yet), then we should be thinking about how we can prevent that from happening. Many of our students on general education standards don’t get social skills instruction because it isn’t part of their academic curriculum. But they will struggle in the long run without it. So we need to make it a priority. So here are 2 strategies that are fairly easy to implement in the classroom that can help.

Social Narratives, Role Playing, Reinforcement

Social narratives are one strategy that we can use to teach our students how to solve social problems. Narratives are like Social Stories™️ and are designed to describe social situations. The most important component of social narratives for these students are that they should highlight others’ perspectives of the social situation. They should also present options to the student about how to handle the situation and how those actions might be interpreted by others.

Social narratives are also used in combination with other interventions. They aren’t a quick fix that works on their own. I have had some students who respond really well to them. Others who didn’t respond at all. Typically, they have worked as a great way to introduce information to the students. But they aren’t necessarily the behavior change agent for instruction. That is going to take practice.

For practice we need to do role playing, practice, and feedback. We can use video modeling. Students can practice with others or with adults. And we need to reinforce them. So there is a lot of explicit instruction that needs to happen as well as part of a social skills curriculum. Tools such as Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking and Scott Bellini’s Building Social Relationships are both good resources for these.

Option Cards

And that brings me to a second tool that I wanted to highlight in this episode. Option cards are simply visual supports that remind students of what their options are. You know that student who always calls out whenever he needs help? He doesn’t know to wait his turn. Or he doesn’t know to ask a friend. And instead he’s always calling out in class and interrupting.

Option cards are a way of reminding him what he could do instead. So in the case of the interrupting student, you might have an option card that says, If I don’t know what to do, I could raise my hand and ask for help, or I could ask a friend. You can tape it to his desk or put it in his pocket or notebook as a reminder.

You can also use them to help prevent more significant challenging behaviors. So some students I’ve worked with have an option card that says, “If I get upset, I can ask for a break or get a fidget.” I’ve had option cards for students during PE that said, “If I lose the game, I could congratulate the other team or go get a drink of water.” The second option may not be the most socially appropriate, but it’s better than screaming at the other team and denying that they won.

And I have a free option card that you can download in the resource library. You can sign up and grab it at autismclassroomresources.com/episode69.

Other Tools

Obviously there are tons of other tools that we can use to address social problem solving, like contingency maps , some of the self-regulation tools I talked about in episode 67 and social skills instructional strategies. But the key is that we need to be addressing these issues for these students. Often times we forget that they need this as explicit instruction. And it’s not included in the general education academic curriculum. We need to advocate for the needs for these students to learn these skills to avoid behavior but also to promote success within and after school.

So head over to the website page for this episode at autismclassroomresources.com/episode69 to grab your free option cards and contingency maps. And if you are interested in learning more about how to teach social competency, we have a whole course on teaching the specific skills for all different populations, including autism, in the Special Educator Academy. So, come join us for a 7-day free trial of the Academy at specialeducatoracademy.com

And I would love to hear about how you teach social problem solving to your students. So if you are an educator, hop over to the free Facebook group at specialeducatorsconnection.com and share.

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The 11 Most Important Social Skills To Teach Kids

H umans are built to socialize; we are meant to exist in groups because they bring us a sense of connection and protection. Social interaction is so critical to our health and well-being that a lack of social skills, isolation, and loneliness can increase our risk of mental and physical health issues. 1 Social skills for kids are an essential element of development. While some kids are naturally sociable, many children need to learn certain skills actively and have the opportunity to practice before they get good at them. The process of learning these skills is called socialization.

Despite social skills being integral, children’s socialization is essential because we aren’t necessarily born with all the social skills we will need to navigate the world around us safely (and appropriately). In addition, some skills are complex or become increasingly complicated as we grow up, so learning to socialize can be a lifelong journey.

What Are Social Skills?

The definition of social skills is the tools that someone uses to help them communicate, ask for help, learn, and get their needs met in healthy and appropriate ways. Social skills help kids get along with others, develop healthy relationships, and interact with people in the community around them. 2

Why Are Social Skills Important for Kids?

Social skills are incredibly important for kids (and adults alike). Some of the benefits include: 3,4

  • Higher achievement and success in education
  • Better quality, healthy relationships with peers (associated with getting along well with others and being able to problem-solve and resolve conflict)
  • More likely to go to college or further education and be employed in a full-time role (in children who were better at sharing, listening, and following the rules — all critical social skills)
  • A better predictor of being successful as adults
  • Fewer experiences of legal troubles and substance use issues
  • Reduced stress (research found that learning a new social skill reduces cortisol, a stress hormone)

11 Types of Social Skills That Kids Can Learn

Social skills examples include verbal and nonverbal communication, such as speech, gestures, posture, body language, and facial expressions. Particular behaviors or interpersonal skills that are important for our children to learn include:

1. Sharing and Turn-Taking

Our little ones can (at times) be a little selfish or egocentric… it’s all me, mine, now! However, learning and being willing to share with their peers or others around them can help children make and keep friends. Sharing and being compassionate also helps kids feel good about themselves, which can boost their self-esteem . 4

2. Effective Communication

Effective communication, including listening skills, is vital for kids to learn. 5 Children are often less frustrated when communicating their needs, thoughts, and opinions. This means they are less likely to have tantrums or express challenging behaviors that might impact people around them. In addition, communication is about being able to listen well. It means you are hearing what someone says and using that information — whether listening to a teacher or following instructions. Or hearing a friend who is upset and understanding that they need support or a hug. Listening is a crucial building block of empathy . 5

Understanding someone else’s feelings and using that information to influence how you communicate or interact with them is an important social skill. 6 Children who understand how their actions might impact others can learn how to change or modify their behavior. This smooths social situations, making them more likely to experience healthy and reciprocal relationships. 6

4. Making Eye Contact

It seems automatic, but appropriate eye contact can change a social situation’s dynamic. 7 Have you ever told your child, “Look at me when I’m talking to you”? We usually expect a certain level of eye contact to show that the other person has noticed and is paying attention. Equally, too much eye contact can be intense or uncomfortable — knowing when to look away is also an art form our kids need to learn.

5. Adhering To Boundaries

This is about respect and consent, including personal space. 8 When our children understand personal boundaries , it helps them create strong and healthy relationships. Some kids like to get right up close and personal or won’t take no for an answer. This can make people feel uncomfortable or upset. So, it’s important to help them understand and respect others’ boundaries.

6. Using Manners

Having good manners can improve social interactions. By learning to say “please” and “thank you” and asking in polite, appropriate ways, people tend to be happier or more agreeable to the request. Or they are likely to help with future requests.

7. Following Directions

Our kids must learn how to listen carefully so they fully understand instructions. They also need the skills (cognitive and emotional) to follow through with the request. Following directions can keep kids safe (don’t touch the hot kettle) or support them in achieving (complete your homework at school). Kids who don’t follow directions may experience negative outcomes or consequences if they can’t — or won’t — follow directions and instructions.

8. Cooperation

This is the process of working together to achieve a joint goal. Cooperation is an important skill in the community, school, and adulthood. It means showing respect when others make a request and contributing and helping others. This requires kids to show respect, understand their role within a group, have good communication skills, and put group needs before their own. 9

9. Patience

Being able to wait or have self-control is an important skill. Our children can’t possibly get their way every time, nor will they always be able to get what they want when they want it. They need to learn to wait. Kids who develop patience grow into adults who experience better health and well-being, stronger relationships, and achievements or success. 10

10. Positivity

Having a positive mindset is vital for good mental health and well-being. This can also mean that being around a child who sees the positive or looks for opportunities rather than challenges or negatives can be more enjoyable or support positive social interactions. 11

11. Problem-Solving

Social problem-solving is an important skill. Children must learn how to analyze, understand, and choose an appropriate response to social problems or conflict.

How To Teach Social Skills to Kids

While some children are naturally more comfortable in social situations, it’s essential to understand how to improve social skills, as they can also be taught (not just innate or part of our temperament). Teaching social skills involves several strategies, including:

  • Modeling : It’s essential to demonstrate your own positive social skills to your children so they can see how it’s done. Do you want them to use their manners? Well, you need to use yours and set the expectation based on your actions.
  • Role play : Activities for teaching social skills often involve an element of practice. So, help your child play out or practice scenarios to help them build their social skills. This could mean imagining how they would react or say on their first day of school if they are worried about making new friends. Or practicing turn-taking.
  • Worksheets : Social skills worksheets for kids can be helpful prompts or opportunities to reflect on their social skills. For example, you could write down some social situations and have them record or map out how they might respond. Or, if there are particular skills they are working on, you could create posters with tips or reminders for the skills and strategies they need to practice or try. These social skills activities might be more suited for preschoolers or those who can read, but using lots of visuals or pictures could work for children who can’t read.
  • Games : This is probably something you do already. When you play a game, you are practicing turn-taking and patience. Kids also can model or practice how to win and lose graciously.
  • Songs or books : Read books with themes about sharing , social situations, or different emotions and ways to cope. We can fill their knowledge base and get them thinking about different social skills before exposure to these situations. And it’s a non-threatening way of addressing tricky topics like bullying .

How Can You Tell if Your Child Has Problems With Social Skills?

Remembering that social skills develop over time and with practice is important. So, small children and toddlers might not be very good at navigating groups or cooperating. But it’s important to monitor and see that they are progressing and can learn and apply the information you teach. It’s also important to understand what is age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate and see if your child falls outside these expectations. Some kids may need a little reinforcement, but difficulties with social skills can be a sign of other problems or a specific diagnosis, like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, hearing loss, anxiety , depression, and more. 12,13,14

If your child struggles with social skills more than others their age, it’s important to explore this with your healthcare provider. Remember that social skills can be taught, even for children experiencing other concerns. So, start small and build their skills up over time.

Selective focus of kids folding educational game with teacher at background in montessori class.

AI helps boost creativity in the workplace but still can't compete with people's problem-solving skills, study finds

  • Artificial intelligence is disrupting professional workplaces with systems like ChatGPT and Gemini.
  • A study found that people mistrust AI for the wrong reasons while trusting it for tasks where it might mess up.
  • AI boosts performance in creative tasks but performs poorly in problem-solving, the study found.

Insider Today

Artificial intelligence is coming to change your workplace .

The rapidly evolving technology has already started to disrupt day-to-day activities in professional settings, and leaders at the forefront of the AI revolution have been clear about how they hope to implement systems like ChatGPT and Gemini into the mainstream workflow.

But while many employees may be cautiously skeptical about the impending AI overhaul, a recent study found that people are actually mistrustful of artificial intelligence for the wrong reasons while frequently trusting in the technology for tasks it's more likely to mess up.

The September 2023 study, which is titled " How People Can Create—and Destroy—Value with Generative AI ," was spearheaded by François Candelon, the managing director and senior partner at consulting company Boston Consulting Group.

The study's findings are back in the news this week after Candelon sat down with the Wall Street Journal's Executive Insights podcast to discuss generative AI in the workplace.

Candelon partnered with talent from top universities like MIT, Wharton, Harvard Business School, and the University of Warwick, and used his consulting company's own employees to execute the experiment, which he told The Journal was inspired by his desire to figure out how humans and AI can work together to help businesses.

The more than 750 study participants were given real tasks, including "creative product innovation" assignments. The participants were instructed to use OpenAI tool GPT-4 to help them with tasks like pitching the shoe concepts to their boss, coming up with focus group questions, and executing a successful social media rollout, Candelon said.

The study found that people using AI faired much better than those working without it when it came to creative product innovation tasks. About 90% of the participants improved their performance when using AI for any task involving ideation and content creation.

Participants also converged on a performance level that was 40% higher than those working on the same task without GPT-4, according to the study.

The most benefits were seen when people didn't try to change or improve the technology's output suggestions, accepting GPT-4's suggestions as is, the study found.

But there are still some tasks where humans have the edge. People's problem-solving skills far outweigh the help offered by AI, Candelon said.

The study found that generative AI actually persuaded several participants to accept GPT's misleading output, even when they had been briefed on the possibility of wrong answers.

Participants who used AI for problem-solving tasks performed 23% worse than those who didn't use the tool at all, according to the study.

The "double-edged sword" that is generative AI, with its "relatively uniform output," can also reduce a group's diversity of thought by 41%, the study found.

But Candelon stressed to The Journal that AI is exceedingly powerful and, ultimately, unavoidable.

"There is this famous quote saying that humans won't get replaced by AI. They will get replaced by humans using AI," he told the outlet.

Candelon said the study shows that data will become even more important with generative AI in the workplace, forcing people to revisit their workflows and figure out places for human and AI collaboration.

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Watch: AI will drive personalization, not creativity, says Roku's VP of growth marketing, Sweta Patel

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COMMENTS

  1. Social Problem Solving

    Problem-solving includes four key skills: Defining the problem, Coming up with alternative solutions, Making a decision about which solution to use, and

  2. 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios

    Social problem-solving skills are critical to a child's social interactions, personal and professional relationships. A child's ability to handle change, cope with stress, and handle challenges improves with a child's ability to successfully solve social problems.

  3. Social Skills Training for Adults: 10 Best Activities + PDF

    Providing social skills training to clients with anxiety, fear of public speaking, and similar issues could ensure more optimal functioning. This article provides strategies and training options for the development of various social skills.

  4. Social Problem Solving

    Classification into a problem solving style is based on the utilization of the four major problem solving skills: problem definition and formulation, generation of alternative solutions, decision making, and solution implementation and verification.

  5. How to Empower Students to Take Action for Social Change

    Problems are an inherent part of our daily lives, and one of the key problem-solving skills is the ability to define a problem. To define a problem, students working collaboratively in groups of four or five start by reviewing background sources, such as articles, speeches, and podcast episodes, and then draft a problem description.

  6. Problem Solving

    Social Problem Solving is the process of changing or adapting to undesirable situations that come up in our day to day life as we engage with others. For young children, the things they consider to be "problems" come up quite often in their interactions with peers and teachers.

  7. 7 Problem-Solving Skills That Can Help You Be a More ...

    Although problem-solving is a skill in its own right, a subset of seven skills can help make the process of problem-solving easier. These include analysis, communication, emotional intelligence, resilience, creativity, adaptability, and teamwork. 1. Analysis. As a manager, you'll solve each problem by assessing the situation first.

  8. PDF Teaching Social Problem Solving to Students

    Social problem solving skills are skills that students "use to analyze, understand, and prepare to respond to everyday problems, decisions, and conflicts" (Elias & Clabby, 1988, p. 53). Learning these skills helps students to improve their ability to cope with stress (Dubow &

  9. Teaching Social Problem-Solving with a Free Activity

    Here are 5 steps to help kids learn social problem solving skills: 1. Teach kids to communicate their feelings. Being able to openly and respectfully share emotions is a foundational element to social problem solving. Teaching I statements can be a simple and effective way to kids to share their feelings. With an I statement, kids will state ...

  10. Social problem-solving

    Social problem-solving involves various abilities and skills which lead to adaptive outcomes for several different populations. [9] In general, effective problem-solving skills can have several benefits. [3] These skills can increase situational coping and reduce emotional distress.

  11. Social Problem-Solving in Early Childhood: Developmental Change and the

    Social withdrawal is defined as behavioral solitude that originates from factors internal to a child such as strong physiological reactions to novelty (i.e., shyness) and social disinterest, as opposed to solitude that results from being actively rejected by one's peers ( Rubin, Coplan, & Bowker, 2009 ).

  12. Children's social problem-solving skills in playing videogames and

    1 Introduction Individuals face many simple or complicated social problems in their daily lives. While some of these problems can be solved easily, some require advanced problem-solving skills.

  13. Using social media affordances to support Ill-structured problem

    Educators consider the development of problem-solving skills in learners to be a primary goal of contemporary teaching and learning efforts. Yet, participating in problem-centered instruction is challenging for learners, and educators have sought different ways of supporting learners as they make sense of complex content. Social media applications are readily available for use by educators ...

  14. The Effect of Social Problem Solving Skills in the Relationship between

    The results revealed that social problem-solving skills have an indirect effect on the relationship between traumatic stress and moral disengagement. The findings suggest that African American youth that are negatively impacted by trauma evidence deficits in their social problem solving skills and are likely to be at an increased risk to ...

  15. What Are Problem-Solving Skills? Definitions and Examples

    Some key problem-solving skills include: Active listening Analysis Research Creativity Communication Decision-making Team-building Problem-solving skills are important in every career at every level. As a result, effective problem-solving may also require industry or job-specific technical skills.

  16. PDF Practice Recommendations for Skill-building Interventions

    Skill-building interventions teach youth skills to manage social interactions and control executive responses such as anger and impulsivity. Skills may be interpersonal skills, problem solving skills, mindfulness strategies for managing emotions, stress, and improving focus, and other similar skills. Our recommendations are specific to the ...

  17. Social Problem Solving and Depressive Symptoms Over Time: A Randomized

    The efficacy of social problem-solving therapies has been examined in several dozen clinical trials, generally with favorable results (e.g., Areán, et al., 2010; Barrett et al., 2001; Mynors-Wallis et al., 1995, 2000; Nezu, 1986; Nezu & Perri, 1989; Williams et al., 2000 ).

  18. How to Show Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking Skills on Social Media

    Learn five tips to demonstrate your problem-solving and critical thinking skills on social media and boost your personal brand. Use stories, questions, resources, process, and authenticity.

  19. Problem-solving skills: definitions and examples

    Problem-solving skills are skills that enable people to handle unexpected situations or difficult challenges at work. Organisations need people who can accurately assess problems and come up with effective solutions. In this article, we explain what problem-solving skills are, provide some examples of these skills and outline how to improve them.

  20. Video games play may provide learning, health, social benefits

    Playing video games may also help children develop problem-solving skills, the authors said. The more adolescents reported playing strategic video games, such as role-playing games, the more they improved in problem solving and school grades the following year, according to a long-term study published in 2013.

  21. (PDF) Social Problem Solving: Theory and Assessment.

    Social problems can be identified through observation, consultation, and research with affected experts, stakeholders, and communities (D'Zurilla et al., 2004). Problem-solving requires a specific ...

  22. Social Skill: Problem Solving

    Simplify the way you teach social-emotional skills with Everyday Speech! Subscribe to access step-by-step SEL curriculum and over 1,000 videos, games, and more. Start your free trial . ... Problem solving is an important skill both in school and in life outside of school. Problem solvers can identify problems and try different solutions until ...

  23. 7 Power Skills That Are in Demand in 2024 and How You Can ...

    5. Problem-solving and critical thinking. Being a good problem solver usually means knowing how to identify a problem and going through a series of steps to develop a solution. From entry-level employees up to your executives, those who can solve problems independently often become more critical thinkers, leading to better overall job performance.

  24. How Social Problem Solving and Social Skills Deficits in Autism Impact

    Given the impact that social problem solving deficits can have on these students' behavior, it's critical that we address them in our assessments and interventions. That leads to two avenues. In the FBA, we need to include a focus on their social skills and problem solving. We probably don't need a formal assessment tool.

  25. Social competencies and problem-solving skills

    youth.gov is the U.S. government website that helps you create, maintain, and strengthen effective youth programs. Included are youth facts, funding information, and tools to help you assess community assets, generate maps of local and federal resources, search for evidence-based youth programs, and keep up-to-date on the latest, youth-related news

  26. The 11 Most Important Social Skills To Teach Kids

    Social skills examples include verbal and nonverbal communication, such as speech, gestures, posture, body language, and facial expressions. ... Problem-Solving. Social problem-solving is an ...

  27. Conflict Management and Team Problem Solving in Supervisory Skills

    A common problem-solving process consists of four stages: define the problem, generate alternatives, evaluate and select alternatives, and implement and monitor the solution.

  28. The 11 Most In-Demand Job Skills (and How to Develop Them)

    A report from LinkedIn identified the 11 most in-demand job skills of 2024 as: communication, customer service, leadership, project management, management, analytics, teamwork, sales, problem ...

  29. AI Boosts Creativity, Can't Match People's Problem-Solving Skills: Study

    AI helps boost creativity in the workplace but still can't compete with people's problem-solving skills, study finds Erin Snodgrass 2024-02-21T00:21:14Z