Arthur Nezu

Drexel University | DU · Department of Psychology

Few clinical trials have examined brief non-pharmacological treatments for reducing suicide risk in older Veterans, a high-risk group. Problem Solving Therapy (PST) is a promising psychosocial intervention for reducing late life suicide risk by increasing adaptive coping to problems through effective problem solving and related coping skills. The c...

Social problem solving (SPS), the process by which individuals attempt to cope with stressful life problems, has previously been found to mediate the relationship between stress and disorder-related symptomatology among several medical patient populations. The present study sought to identify a similar relationship among a sample of 63 men diagnose...

Background Veterans enrolled in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Home Based Primary Care (HBPC), a program providing in-home medical and mental health care by an interdisciplinary care team, often face substantial physical, cognitive, and mental health challenges. This program evaluation examined the impact of a brief problem-solving interventi...

Emotion-Centered Problem-Solving Therapy (EC-PST) is the revised and updated version of Problem-Solving Therapy (PST). This psychosocial intervention approach is based on a biopsychosocial model of coping that aims to enhance individuals' recovery from, and resilience to, the negative impact of stressful events. This article initially provides a br...

Evidence-based practice (EBP) models have been developed, in part, to enhance the likelihood that the outcome of health care treatment, including psychotherapy, leads to positive improvement. However, two additional outcomes can occur: no change and poor outcome (e.g., harm, worsening of symptoms). What does the clinician do when psychotherapy is n...

One of the most persistent health disparities is the underutilization of mental health services by people of color. Neither evidence-based treatments (universal focus) nor culturally adapted treatments (group focus) have reduced these disparities. We propose the personal relevance of psychotherapy (PROP) model, which integrates universal, group, an...

BACKGROUND Adolescents diagnosed with persistent asthma commonly take less than 50% of their prescribed inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), placing them at-risk for asthma-related morbidity. Adolescents’ difficulties with adherence occur in the context of normative developmental changes (e.g., increased responsibility for disease management) and rely up...

Background: Adolescents diagnosed with persistent asthma commonly take less than 50% of their prescribed inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), placing them at risk for asthma-related morbidity. Adolescents' difficulties with adherence occur in the context of normative developmental changes (eg, increased responsibility for disease management) and rely up...

One of the most persistent health disparities is the underutilization of mental health services by people of color. Neither evidence-based treatments (universal focus), nor culturally-adapted treatments (group focus), have reduced these disparities. We propose the Personal Relevance of Psychotherapy (PROP) model that integrates universal, group, an...

Introduction Asthma is a leading cause of youth morbidity in the USA, affecting >8% of youth. Adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) can prevent asthma-related morbidity; however, the typical adolescent with asthma takes fewer than 50% of their prescribed doses. Adolescents are uniquely vulnerable to suboptimal asthma self-management due to sti...

Problem‐solving therapy (PST) is a psychosocial intervention, typically considered to be a member of the cognitive and behaviour therapies family, and is based on a biopsychosocial, diathesis‐stress model of psychopathology. The overarching goal of this approach is to promote the successful adoption of adaptive problem‐solving attitudes and the eff...

Interventions based on problem-solving principles have been found to be effective therapies for a variety of clinical disorders and across various age groups. Informal caregivers of patients with cancer, including spouses, partners, family members, and friends, provide essential support and care throughout the cancer experience. Because these careg...

Purpose Breast cancer (BC) is a risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD), yet little research has tested the efficacy of different psychotherapies for depressed women with BC. This study, the largest to date, compared outcomes of three evidence-based, 12-week therapies in treating major depressive disorder among women with breast cancer. Me...

Veterans in Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) face substantial physical, cognitive, and/or mental health challenges. Problem-solving therapy approaches have empirical support for improving distress among older adults and primary care patients. This evaluation examined the effectiveness of a 6-session Problem-Solving Training (PST) intervention with 16...

In this reply to Rossiter (2018), we note that the goal of developing Journal Article Reporting Standards has been to specify the kinds of information that should be provided to the readers of scientific articles in order to allow maximal understanding of the work being reported—in the case of psychometrics, information that demonstrates the underl...

The present study examined the relationship among acculturative stress, social problem solving, and depressive symptoms among 107 Korean American immigrants. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that acculturative stress significantly predicted depressive symptoms controlling for different domains of acculturation. With regard to the role of soc...

BACKGROUND: The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Statement was developed to help biomedical researchers report randomised controlled trials (RCTs) transparently. We have developed an extension to the CONSORT 2010 Statement for social and psychological interventions (CONSORT-SPI 2018) to help behavioural and social scientists rep...

BACKGROUND: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are used to evaluate social and psychological interventions and inform policy decisions about them. Accurate, complete, and transparent reports of social and psychological intervention RCTs are essential for understanding their design, conduct, results, and the implications of the findings. However, t...

Aggressive/challenging behaviors (A/CB) are a major public health problem for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). A leading reason for psychiatric hospitalizations and incarcerations, such behaviors are costly to the health care system, agencies, and families. Social problem-solving (SPS) training programs for individuals with ID have...

Background: Comorbid depression is a significant challenge for safety-net primary care systems. Team-based collaborative depression care is effective, but complex system factors in safety-net organizations impede adoption and result in persistent disparities in outcomes. Diabetes-Depression Care-management Adoption Trial (DCAT) evaluated whether d...

Following a review of extant reporting standards for scientific publication, and reviewing 10 years of experience since publication of the first set of reporting standards by the American Psychological Association (APA; APA Publications and Communications Board Working Group on Journal Article Reporting Standards, 2008), the APA Working Group on Qu...

Objective: To assess the moderating role of social problem solving regarding the relationship between emotion reactivity to stressful problems and suicide ideation among a sample of U.S. veterans. Background: Suicide is a significant public health problem among U.S. veterans. A recent Department of Veterans Affairs report, for example, indicates th...

Accurate assessment is critical for the effective treatment of depression. Depression assessment can begin even earlier, at the public health level, before the need for treatment has become manifest. This chapter provides an overview of more than 20 measures that may be used in the assessment and treatment of depression for adults. The measures are...

In addition to providing psychoeducation and sharing clinical explanations and treatment goals, case formulation serves as a potential mechanism by which therapists may facilitate an alliance with their patients. This article illustrates how a case formulation shared with a patient early in the process of contemporary problem-solving therapy (PST)...

The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP) is a bimonthly academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. It has a long-standing reputation as the premier journal for the publication of research and scholarship in clinical psychology in the United States. The JCCP welcomes submissions on treatment and prevention...

It is vital for mental health professionals serving veterans to be able to address the full range of needs presented by returning veterans, including those that affect a veterans' daily life (e.g., relationships, employment, and community functioning) but may not rise to the level of requiring specialty mental health care. This article describes th...

Attitudes toward seeking health care, particularly mental health care, are significantly affected by stigma. Stigma surrounding mental health care is a particularly poignant issue for military veterans who are returning home in need of both medical and psychological care. The present study aimed to investigate whether social problem solving plays a...

The present study examined the relationships of positive and negative types of religious coping with depression and quality of life, and the mediating role of benefit finding in the link between religious coping and psychological outcomes among 198 individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The re...

Estimates of the prevalence of psychological difficulties, such as depression, anxiety, and poor quality of life, are high among individuals diagnosed with cancer. Problem-solving therapy (PST), a cognitive and behavioral intervention, is one major approach that has been applied and evaluated as a means of positively impacting on such problems. PST...

In a sample of adults with asthma receiving care and medication in an outpatient pulmonary clinic, this study tested for statistical associations between social problem-solving styles, asthma control, and asthma-related quality of life. These variables were measured cross sectionally as a first step toward more systematic application of social prob...

Health disparities in minority populations are well recognized. Hispanics and Latinos constitute the largest ethnic minority group in the United States; a significant proportion receives their care via a safety net. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and comorbid depression is high among this group, but the uptake of evidence-based collaborative d...

Chapter 11 provides a focus on multicultural competencies related to the practice of cognitive and behavioural psychology consistent with the core foundational competencies in professional psychology, especially with regard to individual and cultural diversity. It provides a unique perspective for cultural competency focusing on the principle of se...

Chapter 12 provides a bridge between the specialty’s early years and its current practice, and the evolution of cognitive behavioural psychology as a specialty over the past 75 years. It focuses on a shift from a mechanistic to more holistic approach, and offers suggestions for participation in various organizations and activities that contribute t...

Chapter 7 provides examples of applied behavioural analysis strategies that have been shown to be effective in both single case and group settings, which may include ways to increase the likelihood of a patient learning new associations or functional contingencies, inhibition of a patient’s previous associations through extinction learning, reducti...

Chapter 2 discusses the several major theories that have contributed to the core foundations of the specialty of cognitive and behavioural psychology, including the major learning theories that are invoked when describing cognitive and behavioural conceptualizations of a particular clinical problem or disorder and extend to the recent integration o...

Chapter 6 assumes the challenge of describing cognitive and behavioural interventions and clinical strategies that are required for competent practice without reducing the specialty to a menu of techniques applied to specific problems. It describes a range of interventions that represent the application of learning theories to reduce symptoms and i...

Chapter 8 provides cognitive and behavioural specialists with important heuristics that may increase the success of their consultation experience with regard to changing problematic behaviour in many different contexts, including mental health practice, hospitals and health promotion, courts, prisons, schools, public safety, and trauma relief. It a...

Chapter 10 discusses how competence in professional psychology requires knowledge and adherence to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct put forth by the APA, most recently revised in 2002, and how the challenges for psychologists who must navigate ‘grey’ areas and embrace these principles in day-to-day practice can differ fro...

Chapter 9 discusses how the specialty of cognitive behavioural psychology is well known for development of evidence-based interventions and strong empirical support, but has also occasionally received unfair criticism from those unfamiliar with the specialty who tend to view cognitive behavioural techniques as very limited in focus on the therapy r...

Chapter 4 discusses how behavioural assessment procedures have evolved from both classical and instrumental conditioning models and include functional analysis of behaviour, behavioural tests, physiologic measurement, as well as social behaviour coding systems, self-report of cognition and emotion, and standardized tests. It also illustrates how co...

Chapter 5 provides an overview of cognitive behavioural case formulation as a ‘hypothesis’ about the causes, precipitants, and maintaining influences of a person’s psychological problems (cognition & emotion), interpersonal problems, and behavioural problems, and illustrates how this approach to assessment allows the cognitive and behavioural speci...

Chapter 3 summarizes much of the research relevant to the specialty through the methodology of meta-analysis, and provides information concerning journals that are relevant to the specialty and likely to helpful in researching cognitive and behavioural assessment and treatment. It additionally describes the methodologies in single case designs, as...

Problem-solving therapy is a cognitive behavioral intervention, based on a biopsychosocial, diathesis–stress model of psychopathology, that involves training individuals in a series of skills geared to enhance their ability to cope effectively with a variety of life stressors thought to engender negative health and mental health outcomes. Problem-s...

This issue represents the 4th Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology special issue on behavioral medicine and clinical health psychology over the past 4 decades. Recent developments in health care policy, as well as in the maturation of the science, make a special issue in this area particularly timely. This collection includes state of the...

Social problem-solving programs have shown success in reducing aggressive/challenging behaviors among individuals with intellectual disabilities in clinical settings, but have not been adapted for health promotion in community settings. We modified a social problem-solving program for the community setting of the group home. Multiple sequential met...

This chapter focuses on important biobehavioral and psychosocial factors related to the development and treatment of diabetes mellitus. It begins with an introductory overview that defines diabetes, describes the most common forms, discusses the most recent updates regarding how diabetes should be diagnosed, and provides prevalence statistics, incl...

When one person in a couple has cancer, both members may experience depressive symptoms and may react as an emotional system. However, the variables that influence this depressive system have not been identified. This study examined whether social problem solving, an important moderator of individual cancer-related depression, is related to depress...

Few studies have examined the weight-control practices that promote weight loss and weight-loss maintenance in the same sample. To examine whether the weight control practices associated with weight loss differ from those associated with weight-loss maintenance. Cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 1165 U.S. adults. The adjusted association...

Once again, a change has occurred. As you probably noticed, the color of the cover for this issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP) is different, signaling the "changing of the guard" of the editorial team. JCCP has a long-standing legacy of excellence in publishing high-quality, cutting-edge, and innovative research and s...

Once again, a change has occurred. As you probably noticed, the color of the cover for this issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP) is different, signaling the “changing of the guard” of the editorial team. JCCP has a long-standing legacy of excellence in publishing high-quality, cutting-edge, and innovative research and s...

I was asked to reflect how being a member of an ethnically diverse minority group, that is, Japanese American, may have influenced my clinical practice as a psychologist and psychotherapist. I first define the various facets of my "diversity status," followed by an offering of reflections on how being a member of this group impacted both myself as...

IntroductionTreatments for People with Personality DisorderProblem-Solving TherapyConclusion References

The set of diseases known collectively as cancer represents the second most common cause of death in the United States. About 565,650 Americans were expected to die from cancer in 2008, accounting for 25% of deaths. An estimated 1.4 million new cases were diagnosed in 2008, with prostate and breast cancers being most frequent in men and women, resp...

Problem-solving therapy or skills training is a cognitive-behavioral intervention geared to improve an individual's ability to cope more effectively with stressful life events. It addresses various cognitive elements (e.g., one's negative appraisal of problems), as well as one's overall general approach or style of coping with stress.

This title provides a comprehensive description and hands-on, practical guide for individuals seeking certification from any one of the 13 specialty boards of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). It contains answers to frequent areas of inquiry and questions posed by potential candidates. In addition to providing a brief descriptio...

Social problem solving represents the multidimensional meta-process of idiographically identifying and selecting various coping responses to implement in order to address the unique features of a given stressful situation, rather than describing a singular type of coping behavior or activity. Research has continued to identify social problem solvin...

The present study tested the hypothesis that social problem solving (SPS) served to mediate the relationship between preceived stress and noncardiac chest pain (NCCP). Adults undergoing stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) to determine the presence of underlying cardiovascular disease related to the experience of chest pain were recruited prio...

The National Institute for Mental Health in England's (2003) paper, Personality Disorder: No Longer a Diagnosis of Exclusion, led to a need for effective treatments for people with personality disorders. Problem-solving therapy (PST) is an appropriate treatment because, rather than trying to change basic personality structure, the aim is to help pe...

The Theory of PstProblem Solving and Sex OffendingGeneral Pst GuidelinesProject Cbt: Pst for Sexual OffendersConclusion References

To investigate differences in social problem solving (SPS) between individuals with noncardiac chest pain (NCCP) and persons with chest pain who tested positive for underlying cardiac disease. The major design involved a matched case-control methodology and compared a group of patients with NCCP (n = 53) with a group of patients with cardiac diseas...

Chapter 1 focuses on recognizing and dealing with threats to validity in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). It outlines types of validity and their threats, including internal validity and threats of temporal precedence, selection, history, maturation, regression to the mean, attrition; external validity and threats of sample characteristics, set...

Chapter 13 discusses treatment integrity and how it can be ensured. It defines and describes the concepts of therapist adherence and competence, as well as provide examples of various measures previously developed to assess these constructs specific to certain types of clinical interventions (e.g., cognitive therapy, multi-systemic family therapy)....

This online resource provides both conceptual and practical information for conducting and evaluating evidence-based outcome studies. It encompasses psychotherapy research for traditional mental health disorders (eg. depression, anxiety), as well as psychosocial-based treatments provided to medical patient populations to have impact either on the d...

This chapter focuses on psychosocial interventions geared to address the serious problems of stress, depression, and anxiety related to the experience of cancer and its treatment. Based on the authors’ research and clinical work in psychosocial oncology, there will be an emphasis on problem-solving therapy approaches to secondary prevention interve...

Sex offending behavior in persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) is a serious problem with significant consequences for the victims, offenders, and their social communities (Barron, Hassiots, & Banes, 2002; Nezu, Nezu, & Dudek, 1998). A growing awareness of such problems in people with ID, as well as heightened societal and cultural sensitivit...

This article reviews the extant literature involving maintenance of treatment effects for depression and provides specific recommendations for future research directions and current clinical practice. Regarding research directions, we emphasize the following strategies: use consistent operational definitions, use consistent measurement criteria, pr...

Three major issues engendered by Clement's model are discussed in this commentary. These include (a) the importance of using such models for self-evaluation of one's practice, (b) the inevitable negative consequences that can arise from a continuation of the civil war between researchers and practitioners, and (c) the importance of focusing on stra...

Over the past thirty years, Problem Solving Therapy (PST) has been shown to be an effective treatment for many different problems and patient populations (Nezu, 2004). Among its many clinical applications, PST interventions were developed for persons with intellectually disabilities (ID), where improving problem-solving skills led to adaptive behav...

Problem solving to promote treatment adherence Problem solving is the overt, self-directed process by which a person attempts to identify adaptive solutions for stressful or difficult problems in real life (Nezu, 2004). Problem-solving therapy (PST), a cognitive-behavioral intervention, helps individuals cope more effectively with such problems by...

I argue that, as a profession, psychology needs to aspire beyond the goal of achieving cultural competence when addressing issues of human diversity. Although laudable, cultural competency as a goal may not set the bar high enough to achieve equity regarding those minority groups traditionally neglected or marginalized. As such, I further argue tha...

Cognitive-behavioral treatment programs for adult sex offenders often include training geared to improve a perpetrator's social problem-solving skills. However, little empirical evidence exists to date that documents the relationship between problem-solving and deviant sexual interest or behavior among child molesters. As such, this study investiga...

In this brief article, we provide relevant background concerning the prevalence, characteristics and vulnerabilities of intellectually disabled (ID) sex offenders, as well as scientifically-informed guidelines for assessment and treatment. Specifically, we suggest assessment methods concerning the various areas of vulnerability associated with sex...

A large body of research over the past 20 years has confirmed the value and benefits of SST for people with schizophrenia. The concepts of self-esteem and SST are closely linked, and a number of recent studies demonstrate the benefit of focusing on self-esteem within different diagnostic areas, including the schizophrenic population, as a way to re...

Over three decades ago, D'Zurilla and Goldfried (1971) published a seminal article delineating a model of problem-solving training geared to enhance social competence and decrease psychological distress. Since that time, a substantial amount of research has been conducted to test various hypotheses that this model has engendered. Much of this resea...

Attributional bias and social problem-solving deficits in two groups of adult males (aggressive vs. nonaggressive) with mild mental retardation were investigated. When presented with vignettes depicting various problem situations, aggressive participants were less accurate in correctly identifying interpersonal intent, characterized by more problem...

In this chapter we describe the social problem-solving model that has generated most of the research and training programs presented in the remaining chapters of this volume. We also describe the major assessment methods and instruments that have been used to measure social problem-solving ability and performance in research as well as clinical pra...

The efficacy of problem-solving therapy (PST) to reduce psychological distress was assessed among a sample of 132 adult cancer patients. A second condition provided PST for both the patient and a significant other. At posttreatment, all participants receiving PST fared significantly better than waiting list control patients. Further, improvements i...