The social problem-solving literature has long been criticized for its overreliance on self-report measures and relative lack of cross-method validation. In response, the present study evaluated a comprehensive self-monitoring measure, the Problem-Solving Self-Monitoring (PSSM) form, which has rarely been used in research and has not undergone formal psychometric evaluation despite its potential for enhanced ecological validity. The PSSM incorporates self-report and self-observational methods to assess social problem-solving attitudes and abilities. An examination of the convergent and incremental utility of the PSSM in predicting depressive symptoms and solution effectiveness was included as part of the evaluation. Undergraduate students (N = 330) completed diary entries of problematic situations they encountered, and their attempts to solve them, over a two-week span. They also completed well established self-report measures of social problem-solving and depression. A principal component analysis of the PSSM items yielded three factors, all of which coincided with the social problem-solving model and demonstrated adequate internal consistency. With some exceptions, the derived factor scores converged with self-report measures of SPS ability and predicted depression symptoms and solution effectiveness ratings. The factor scores contributed unique variance to the prediction of depression symptoms and effectiveness ratings after controlling for the two self-report measures, evidencing incremental utility. Taken together, the results highlight promising avenues for future research on social problem-solving attitudes and abilities evaluated with self-monitoring measures.
