Abstract
The purposes of the present study were to investigate long-term effectiveness of social problem-solving training (SPST) and also effects of social problem-solving training on stress responses. Sixth-graders were assigned to either a training group (n=84) or a control group (n=91). The children in the training group received the 4-session (45 minutes per session) training implemented by their classroom teachers. The participants filled out the Children's Social Problem-Solving Scale and the Psychological Stress Response Scale for Children (short version) 4 times; before and immediately after the training, and 3 months and 11 months after the training. The results suggested that the Problem Orientation, Rational Problem-Solving style in cognitive approaches, and Solution Generation of the children in the training group improved significantly. The improvement in Solution Generation was maintained 11 months after the training. The results also indicated that, in the training group, the children's irritation-anger scores, one of the 4 subscales of stress responses, were significantly reduced after the training. In follow-up measurements conducted 11 months after the children had advanced to junior high school, no effects from the intervention other than on Solution Generation were found to have been maintained. This suggests the necessity of implementing a program that would maintain the effects after children are in junior high school.
