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Subject: search.filters.subject.Social skills -- Study and teaching

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    An evaluation of a job seeking skills programme for prison inmates : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1990) Young, Lucille M
    This research is concerned with the evaluation of a Job Seeking Skills (JSS) programme at Manawatu Prison. Three groups of four JSS participants responded to questionnaire measures of self-esteem, social anxiety and fear of negative evaluation at pretest, posttest and at a six week follow-up. Self-esteem increased but no change occurred on measures of social anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. Subjects also took part in videotaped simulated job interviews at pretest and posttest. Subjects decreased their response latency, but no significant changes were noted on other behavioural measures. Despite this, subjects were rated as significantly more socially skilled and more employable at their posttest interviews. Improvements were also noted on ratings of appearance and question answering. Although subjects reported a decrease in anxiety in interview, ratings of anxiety by external raters did not indicate significant improvement.
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    Social problem-solving skills training and adults with intellectual disability : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2004) Anderson, Gillian
    Previous research has demonstrated that social problem-solving training can significantly improve social problem-solving skill and maladaptive behaviour in adults with mild intellectual disability. A multiple-case study design was used to extend these findings by investigating whether social problem-solving training can decrease psychological distress (i.e., low self-esteem, anxiety and depression), as well as social problem-solving skills and behaviour. Five participants from a vocational community centre, with mild intellectual disability and mental illness and/or challenging behaviour, were invited to participate in 15 sessions of Social problem-solving training. Social problem-solving skill was measured by structured interview, and adaptive and maladaptive behaviour by Adaptive Behavior Scale, before and after training. Participants completed self-reports on depression, anxiety and self-esteem at baseline, pre-treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment and follow-up. Three out of the five participants completed the training. Participants' individual test-scores and case histories are presented. All three participants showed improvement in social problem-solving skills, and two participants showed improvement in depression. There was no noticeable change in self-esteem or anxiety, but support workers reported improvement in behaviour for two participants. Improvement was maintained at four-week follow-up. Future research may improve results and treatment integrity by involving support staff in the follow-up of between session homework tasks to improve generalization and learning, and by drafting a detailed treatment manual. Further improvement could be enhanced by decreasing the number of sessions to nine to decrease boredom, and by incorporating self-esteem training and social problem-solving training as a daily routine within the community centre.