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The Development of a Social Problem Solving Test for Elementary School Students

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Abstract

This study describes the development of a social problem solving test for elementary school students (SPSTE). The SPSTE scales are performance measures of social problem-solving competence that is based on a multidimensional theoretical model of social problem solving and utilized a combined cross-situational and cognitive-behavior-analytic approach. The scales measure the social cognitive-affective aspects, specific-problem defining skills, and basic problem-solving abilities that were used by children in their interpersonal relations in their own words. The SPSTE-A (form A for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students) consists of 50 items through ten interpersonal problematic situations. The SPSTE-A is structured into five subscales that were designed to assess the five dimensions of social problem-solving competence. From three preliminary samples that consist of 417 Vietnamese elementary students (3rd, 4th, and 5th grades), psychometric properties concerning the reliability and validity of the tool were reported. The results provided evidence that the SPSTE has empirically sound psychometric properties and that the scale is a promising multidimentional outcome measure of social problem-solving competence in elementary school students.

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Acknowledgements

Data collected for this study and preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by the Project “Assessing primary school students forward the comletence-approach in responding the requirements of general education programe innovation”. Project number: KHGD/16-20. ĐT.016 in Vietnam. Authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Special Education, Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE), Hanoi, Vietnam

    Cong Khanh Nguyen

  2. Department of Primary Education, Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE), Hanoi, Vietnam

    Ha Thi Tran

  3. Graduate Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam

    My Linh Thi Nguyen

Authors
  1. Cong Khanh Nguyen
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  2. Ha Thi Tran
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  3. My Linh Thi Nguyen
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Correspondence to Cong Khanh Nguyen.

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Appendix

Appendix

1. Situation (#13) Your class plans to organise a camp, as the class leader, you actively build programs and plans, but when you ask for comments and more ideas, many of your classmates reject and disagree. You feel very uncomfortable with their attitude, so what will you do?

Your thoughts and behavior

Scales

A. Don’t ask their opinion anymore, you will decide yourself what to do and ask them to follow

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B. Listen and ask your friends to point out the irrational points and give corrections

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C. Suggest your friends to give ideas and to vote on the idea that most people agree on

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D. You thought that you should not take time to convince them, I ask the teacher to decide it

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E. You feel frustrating and blame your friends for not supporting me

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2. Situation (#19) On the break time, the whole group frolicked, one of them accidentally broke the bonsai pot. For fear of being punished, no one voluntarily accepted their faults, and then the Security Guard told their class teacher. She was very upset, and threatened to punish the whole group if no one was willing to admit it. If you are a member of that group and you know who broke it, how will you behave?

Your thoughts and behavior

Scales

A. You tell the teacher that you don’t know who broke the pot

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B. You are frustrated with the one who made a mistake but does not voluntarily accept the fault so the whole group is punished

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C. You talk to your friends and on behalf of the group you apologise your teacher and promise to overcome the consequences

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D. On behalf of your group you admit your group’s fault but you are not satisfied with the teacher’s attitude

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E. You talk to and persuade your friend to admit his/her fault and the whole group apologise the teacher and ask her not to blame

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Nguyen, C.K., Tran, H.T. & Nguyen, M.T. The Development of a Social Problem Solving Test for Elementary School Students. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 39, 35–57 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-020-00360-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-020-00360-5

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