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An investigation of the validity of the SPSI and SPSI-R in differentiating high-suicidal from depressed, low-suicidal college students

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Abstract

The present study examined the validity of the Social Problem-Solving Inventory (SPSI) and SPSI—Revised in differentiating 65 high-suicidal from 63 depressed, low-suicidal college students. Results from multivariate analyses indicated overall differences in problem-solving between these two groups as measured by the SPSI but not by the SPSI-R. Further examination of these differences revealed the high-suicidal group was different in problem-solving orientation, rather than problem-solving skills, compared to the depressed, low-suicidal group. However, when depression was statistically controlled in hierarchical regression analyses, none of the problem-solving measures predicted group membership. The superiority of the SPSI to the SPSI-R in differentiating these two groups appears to be accounted for by the elimination of 28 items in the revised version, many of which measure orientation to problem-solving. Also explored was the possibility that objective measures of problem-solving provide a better prediction of adjustment than do self-report measures.

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Clum, G.A., Yang, B., Febbraro, G.A.R. et al. An investigation of the validity of the SPSI and SPSI-R in differentiating high-suicidal from depressed, low-suicidal college students. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 18, 119–132 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02229112

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