Soeial Problem Solving as a Mediator of Stress-Related Depression and Anxiety in Middle-Aged and Elderly Community Residents’

This study cxaniitied the relations between everyday problems, social problem solving, und dcprcission and anviep in middle-aged and elderly communip residents, using a niitltidiniensiorirri measure of social pmhlem-solving abiligp that ussesses positive problem orientation, negative problem orientation, rational problem solving, inipulsivitylcarelessiiess style, and avoidance style. W i d e problem-solving dejicits were found to be significantly related to depression and anxiep in both age samples, no support was found for a nzoderutor iiypothesis which assumes that problem-solving ability interacts with everyday problems to reduce depression and anxiety. On the other hand, support was found in both samples for a niediational model which assumes that problem solving is an inrewening variable that accounts to a significunt degree for the causal relations between everyday problems and depression and anxieq. Although all five problem-solving dimensions were significantly related