- Email: [email protected]
The relationship between social problem-solving and personality in mentally disordered offenders
Personality and Individual Differences 30 (2001) 517±524
www.elsevier.com/locate/paid
The relationship between social problem-solving and personality in mentally disordered oenders Mary McMurran a,*, Vincent Egan b, Marie Blair c, Cathryn Richardson d a
Centre for Applied Psychology (Forensic Section), University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RB, UK b Department of Psychology, Arnold Lodge, Cordelia Close, Leicester LE5 0LE, UK c Department of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK d Clinical Psychology Doctorate, School of Health and Social Sciences, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5BH, UK Received 1 October 1999; received in revised form 25 January 2000; accepted 1 March 2000
Abstract Poor social problem-solving skills may account for some criminal behaviours in mentally disordered oenders, and social problem-solving may be mediated by personality traits. We examined the relationship between personality and social problem-solving in 52 mentally disordered oenders, (38 mentally ill and 14 personality disordered) detained in a regional secure unit. Since t-tests indicated no dierences between the mentally ill and personality disordered groups, they were pooled into a single sample. Correlations indicated that high neuroticism (N) was related to poor social problem-solving, and high scores on the other ®ve-factor traits were related to good social problem-solving. High N, which is a core feature of personality disorders as well as being a common feature of oenders, may signal emotional reactivity which militates against eective social problem-solving. N is, however, negatively correlated with extraversion (E), conscientiousness (C), and agreeableness (A), therefore partial correlations were conducted controlling for N. Once N is discounted, the main trait associated with problem-solving is openness (O), which is positively related to problem-solving, perhaps due to the relationship of O to intelligence and creativity. A positive correlation between E and a more positive problem orientation remains, perhaps because optimism is a de®ning feature of high E. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Personality; Social problem-solving; Mentally disordered oenders
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-116-252-5710; fax: +44-116-252-3994. E-mail address: [email protected] (M. McMurran). 0191-8869/01/$ - see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0191-8869(00)00050-7
518
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
1. Introduction De®cits in social problem-solving skills are associated with a number of emotional and behavioural problems in people of all ages, for example depression and anxiety in adults (Kant & D'Zurilla, 1997), hostility in adults (Cassidy & Long, 1996), and aggression in children (Akhtar & Bradley, 1991). One scale developed to measure social problem-solving is the Social ProblemSolving Inventory Ð Revised (SPSI-R; D'Zurilla, Nezu & Maydeu-Olivares, 2000). The SPSI-R has ®ve subscales, as follows: (1) Positive Problem Orientation (PPO), an optimistic attitude to tackling problems; (2) Negative Problem Orientation (NPO), a pessimistic attitude to solving problems; (3) Rational Problem Solving (RPS), a systematic approach to solving problems, including problem de®nition, problem analysis, and generation of alternative solutions; (4) Impulsive/Careless Style (ICS), an ill-thought out and hurried approach to tackling problems; and (5) Avoidance Style (AS), a tendency to procrastinate, blame others, or depend on others to solve one's problems. Using the SPSI-R, psychiatric patients and distressed samples (e.g., medical patients) have been shown to score more dysfunctionally than `normal' samples (D'Zurilla et al., 2000). The direction of causality is unclear; it may be that poor problem-solving predisposes people to experience emotional and behavioural problems, or that experiencing emotional or behavioural problems adversely impacts upon problem-solving abilities, or each of these propositions may pertain reciprocally. Poor social problem-solving is evident in forensic psychiatric patients. In a recent study of social problem-solving using the SPSI-R (D'Zurilla et al., 2000), it was established that forensic psychiatric patients show dysfunctional scores similar to those of non-forensic psychiatric patients (McMurran, Richardson, Egan & Ahmadi, 1999). Poor social problem-solving abilities may lead to criminal behaviours, such as violence, sexual oending, and arson, an oence being a maladaptive attempt to solve personal or interpersonal problems. Social problem-solving skills training with oenders shows promise as one of the components of successful rehabilitation programmes for prisoners (Ross, Fabiano & Ross, 1986) and personality disordered oenders (Hughes, Hogue, Hollin & Champion, 1997; McMurran et al., 1999). Further examination of social problem-solving in oenders is necessary, and one legitimate line of enquiry is the relationship between personality and social problem-solving. It may be that personality interferes with the acquisition or application of eective social problem-solving skills. Research into personality and social problem-solving could provide useful information about de®cits which would permit the more appropriate design of and selection for remediation and rehabilitation programmes. There is good evidence that a limited number of personality dimensions describe both normal and abnormal personalities, with the dierence being quantitative rather than qualitative (Deary, Peter, Austin & Gibson, 1998). The most widely accepted trait model these days is, arguably, the ®ve-factor model, and each of the ®ve factors has been associated with personality disorder (Costa & Widiger, 1994). Deary et al. (1998) suggest that understanding the client's personality helps the clinician to understand the presentation, aetiology, and prognosis of a person's problem. Matthews, Saklofske, Costa, Deary and Zeidner (1998) suggest that coping with problems in everyday life is, in part, determined by dispositional factors. They review coping styles in relation to the `Big Five' personality dimensions, namely neuroticism (N), extraversion (E), openness (O), agreeableness (A), and conscientiousness (C). Matthews et al. (1998) suppose
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
519
that high N may dispose a person to maladaptive coping through focusing on emotions, selfblame, escapist fantasy, withdrawal, and indecisiveness. By contrast, high E is putatively related to adaptive coping through an active and optimistic approach to problems. High O may predict a willingness to rethink the problem from dierent perspectives, and high C is probably associated with a strong task-focus. Matthews et al. (1998) make no speci®c claims for high A, but it might be assumed that those who score highly on this dimension could tend to avoid tackling interpersonal issues for fear of hurting others, whereas no such fear would hinder those lower in A. These possibilities lead us to speculate how the ®ve personality factors might correlate with the SPSI-R subscales. We predict that: (1) N is negatively related to constructive problem-solving dimensions (PPO and RPS) through feelings of being overwhelmed by problems and low selfecacy, and positively related to dysfunctional problem-solving dimensions (NPO, ICS, and AS), through negativity, carelessness, and avoidance; (2) E is positively related to PPO and negatively related to NPO through positivity and optimism, and negatively related to AS through the inclination to action; (3) given its association with intelligence and creativity, O is likely to be positively associated with RPS, which contains a `generation of alternatives' component; (4) A will be positively associated with AS in that a reluctance to displease may lead to avoidance of dealing with problems; (5) C will be negatively related to ICS and positively related to RPS through self-control and task-focus. Where an SPSI-R scale has not been mentioned, we hypothesise no relationship. Here, we examine personality traits and social problem-solving in a sample of mentally disordered oenders consisting of both mentally ill and personality disordered patients. Social problem-solving skills are important in that they are associated with dysfunctional interpersonal styles that may lead to highly destructive oending behaviours, whether the diagnosis is one of personality disorder or mental illness. Indeed, Hodgins (1995) hypothesises that, among oenders with a mental illness, those who started oending early in life and whose antisocial behaviour persists into adulthood are antisocial for the same reasons as non-mentally ill persistent oenders. It may be that the oending of many mentally ill oenders (though not all) is caused not by mental illness per se but by concomitant personality disorders. Given that we propose that personality plays a signi®cant part in the functioning of mentally ill and personality disordered oenders alike, we anticipate no dierences between these two groups. 2. Method 2.1. Sample An Ethics Committee approved database of psychological measures is kept on all patients in Arnold Lodge, a secure psychiatric unit for mentally disordered oenders detained under the Mental Health Act (1983). This database was set up in 1997 and by mid-1999 complete data on the measures relevant to this study were available for 52 patients. Only four patients were missing from this sample, two being too disturbed to complete the assessments and two refusing to participate. Of these patients, 38 were classi®ed as mentally ill and 14 as suering from psychopathic (personality) disorder, under the terms of the Mental Health Act (1983). The sample consisted of
520
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
50 men and two women, whose average age was 30.83 years (SD=8.84). Forty were described as white, eight African-Caribbean, one Asian, and three mixed race. 2.2. Measures 2.2.1. Social Problem-Solving Inventory Ð Revised (SPSI-R; D'Zurilla et al., 2000) The SPSI-R is a self-report questionnaire, consisting of 52 items, scored on a ®ve-point Likert scale, aimed at measuring social problem-solving. The SPSI-R has ®ve scales, two measuring problem-solving orientation Ð positive problem orientation (PPO) and negative problem orientation (NPO) Ð and three measuring problem-solving styles Ð rational problem-solving (RPS), impulsivity/carelessness style (ICS), and avoidance style (AS). PPO and RPO measure dimensions associated with constructive problem-solving, whereas NPO, ICS and AS measure dimensions associated with dysfunctional problem-solving. A total social problem-solving score (SPS) can be calculated from the ®ve scale scores using a formula which reverses scores on the dysfunctional scales. The SPSI-R scales show test±retest reliabilities between 0.68 and 0.91, and alpha coecients between 0.69 and 0.95 (D'Zurilla et al., 2000). Con®rmatory factor analysis, correlation with other problem-solving measures and overlapping psychological constructs, and correlation with measures of psychological distress, all support the validity of the SPSI-R (D'Zurilla et al., 2000). 2.2.2. NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1992) The NEO-FFI, which is a short form of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI; Costa & McCrae, 1992), is a self-report questionnaire aimed at measuring ®ve domains of personality Ð neuroticism (N), extraversion (E), openness (O), agreeableness (A) and conscientiousness (C). It consists of 60 items scored on a ®ve-point Likert scale. Correlations between the NEO-FFI domains and the same domains on the longer parent questionnaire, the NEO-PI, are upward of 0.68 (McCrae & Costa, 1989). The NEO-FFI accounts for around 85% of the variance in convergent validity criteria based upon self, spouse, and peer endorsements of descriptions of the ®ve traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992). This information suggests that these traits are reasonably valid and reliable, however, one diculty is that the ®ve scales measured by the NEO-FFI are not independent, N correlating negatively with E, C, and A (Deary et al., 1996; Egan, Deary & Austin, 2000). 3. Results Mean scores of mentally ill and personality disordered patients on both the SPSI-R and the NEO-FFI were compared using t-tests, results of which are presented in Table 1. Analyses revealed no signi®cant dierences between the two groups for the SPSI-R total score or any of its subscales, nor were there any signi®cant dierences between the groups on any of the dimensions of the NEO-FFI. Since our mentally ill and personality disordered oenders present indistinguishable pro®les on the measures used here, they were pooled into a single sample. Correlations between SPSI-R and NEO-FFI scores are presented in Table 2. Each personality dimension is signi®cantly related to the total SPS score, with N being strongly negatively related
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
521
Table 1 Mean scores on the SPSI-R scales and NEO-FFI factors for mentally ill (MI; n 38) and personality disordered oenders (PD; n 14) MI SPSI-R
PPO NPO RPS ICS AS SPS N E O A C
NEO-FFI
a b
11.56 18.08 38.69 16.28 10.77 11.25 25.60 22.80 23.43 27.43 29.15
ta
PD (4.51)b (10.86) (15.50) (9.76) (7.52) (3.65) (9.45) (5.47) (6.09) (4.76) (6.98)
10.62 20.08 35.31 19.00 12.62 10.09 28.14 25.36 24.00 24.71 30.50
(4.15) (8.08) (10.73) (10.07) (6.96) (3.04) (6.41) (5.05) (7.06) (6.68) (7.27)
0.67 ÿ0.61 0.73 ÿ0.86 ÿ0.78 1.02 ÿ0.93 ÿ1.53 ÿ0.29 1.64 ÿ0.62
For all t-values P > 0:05. Standard deviations in parentheses.
to SPS and the others positively related to SPS. The relationship between N and each of the SPSIR subscales is in the predicted direction, namely a negative relationship with positive problemsolving scales (PPO and RPS), and a positive relationship with negative problem-solving scales (NPO, ICS, and AS). As predicted, E is strongly positively related to PPO and negatively related to NPO, although it is not negatively related to AS as expected. O is positively related to RPS, con®rming our prediction, and is also negatively related to ICS. A is negatively related to ICS, but not related to AS as hypothesised. C is negatively related to ICS, as predicted, but not related to RPS as we thought it would be. Furthermore, C is positively related to PPO and negatively related to NPO. Since it has been established that N is negatively correlated with E, C, and A, we predicted that these associations could be due to the in¯uence of N on the correlations. We therefore conducted a partial correlation, controlling for the variance contributed by N. The results of the partial correlation, which are presented in Table 3, suggest that, once N is controlled for, the main trait associated with problem-solving is O. A positive, although weaker, correlation between E and PPO remains. Table 2 Correlations between NEO-FFI factors and SPSI-R scales for mentally disordered oenders (n 52)a
N E O A C a
PPO
NPO
RPS
ICS
AS
SPS
ÿ0.53 0.47 0.17 0.15 0.42
0.77 ÿ0.43 ÿ0.24 ÿ0.26 ÿ0.39
ÿ0.33 0.21 0.30 ÿ0.02 0.21
0.56 ÿ0.24 ÿ0.32 ÿ0.34 ÿ0.28
0.39 ÿ0.20 ÿ0.32 ÿ0.27 ÿ0.24
ÿ0.69 0.40 0.36 0.29 0.40
Note: P<0.05; P<0.01;
P<0.001.
522
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
Table 3 Partial correlations controlling for N between NEO-FFI factors E, O, A, and C, and SPSI-R scales for mentally disordered oenders (n 52)a
E O A C a
PPO
NPO
RPS
ICS
AS
SPS
0.25 0.14 0.00 0.20
ÿ0.02 ÿ0.26 ÿ0.07 0.01
0.39 0.27 ÿ0.12 0.06
0.08 ÿ0.32 ÿ0.23 0.00
0.01 ÿ0.30 ÿ0.19 ÿ0.05
0.05 0.40 0.14 0.09
Note: P<0.05;
P<0.01.
4. Discussion Mentally ill oenders and personality disordered oenders did not dier on social problemsolving abilities or personality dimensions, as measured by the SPSI-R and the NEO-FFI, respectively. This corroborates our view that personality traits play a large part in explaining the behaviour of a group of mentally ill patients, regardless of the mental illness, although this conclusion should be treated with caution in view of the small proportion of personality disordered patients in our sample. Nonetheless, these similarities are important as they imply that many mentally ill oenders require psychosocial interventions to address clinical and criminological problems and that focusing treatment on the symptoms of mental illness alone is insucient. Our knowledge of personality dimensions, as measured by the NEO-FFI, allowed us to predict reasonably accurately a person's problem-solving orientation and problem-solving style, as measured by the SPSI-R, although our set of hypotheses was not entirely accurate. It is evident that N, more strongly than any other trait, predicts problem-solving: high N is strongly associated with poor problem-solving, and these de®cits are in all aspects of problem-solving, as measured by the SPSI-R. In short, high N scorers feel threatened by problems, are pessimistic about their ability to solve problems, and avoid problems or are careless in their approach to problem-solving. There is much evidence that neuroticism is a core feature of personality disorders (e.g., Deary et al., 1998), and high N scorers report more, and more varied, problems, higher levels of distress, and a lesser ability to cope than low N scorers (Matthews et al., 1998). Here we suggest that one eect of neuroticism is to interfere with a person's social problem-solving abilities, thus contributing to personal and interpersonal problems, including crime. High N is generally found in oender populations (e.g., McGurk & McDougall, 1981) and may relate to poor social problem-solving and crime by the mechanism of variable, rapid-shifting, and primarily negative mood, in which excessive autonomic physical reactions occur to aversive stimuli, thus impeding ecient social problem-solving. In our study, it initially appeared that each of the other personality dimensions was also associated with problem-solving in that high E, O, A, and C are indicative of good overall problemsolving skills (SPS). After controlling for the eect of N on relationships, however, O remains positively related to rational problem-solving and negatively related to pessimism, impulsivity, and avoidance. Such a measured approach to solving problems is consistent with the notion that O is related to aspects of formal intellectual ability (McDonald, 1995). E remains positively
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
523
associated with optimism in relation to tackling problems, which one would expect since optimism is a de®ning feature of E. How does this information help us understand mentally disordered oenders? We have supposed that poor social problem-solving skills can lead a person to commit crimes, in that irrational or ineective approaches to interpersonal problems can be criminal, for example the use of aggression or violence in response to frustration, or setting ®re to another's property as a means of revenge for a perceived injustice. We have also supposed that poor social problem-solving is a mediator between personality and criminality, in that those with certain personality traits are less likely to learn or apply eective social problem-solving skills. Our study con®rms an association between personality and problem-solving in mentally disordered oenders, and thus directs research towards further exploration of the inter-relationships among personality, problem-solving and criminality. The ®ve-factor model has its critics (e.g., Block, 1995), and, rather than pursue this exclusively, other models could be studied, for example the two-dimensional model of Blackburn (1998). Meanwhile, does the association we have identi®ed provide us with any guidance for clinically relevant research? Social problem-solving skills training programmes could be designed to emphasise dierent components for dierent personality types, for example those scoring low on O might bene®t most from structured training in the speci®cs of problem-solving as well as selfcontrol training, whereas those low on E might bene®t from motivation enhancement and con®dence building. Those high on N would appear to require comprehensive interventions to change attitudes to problems, attenuate the association between unpleasant autonomic arousal and impulsive responding, and enhance problem-solving skills. Personality measures may predict who does best in which type of social problem-solving skills training, thus enabling therapists to select those most likely to bene®t. Thus, the ®ndings presented here could be used to develop both the content of social problem-solving interventions and methods of appropriate selection of clients for those interventions. Acknowledgements This work was supported by a grant from the National Hospital Trust, and was undertaken by sta of Leicestershire Mental Health Services NHS Trust, which received a proportion of its funding from the NHS Executive. Writing time was supported by the National Programme for Forensic Mental Health Research and Development. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors. References Akhtar, N., & Bradley, E. J. (1991). Social information processing de®cits of aggressive children. Clinical Psychology Review, 11, 621±644. Blackburn, R. (1998). Criminality and the interpersonal circle in mentally disordered oenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 25, 155±176. Block, J. (1995). A contrarian view of the ®ve factor approach to personality description. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 187±215.
524
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
Cassidy, T., & Long, C. (1996). Problem-solving style, stress, and psychological illness: Development of a multifactorial measure. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 35, 265±277. Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-RTM) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Costa, P. T., & Widiger, T. A. (1994). Personality disorders and the ®ve-factor model of personality. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Deary, I. J., Blenkin, H., Agius, R. M., Endler, N. S., Zealley, H., & Wood, R. (1996). Models of job-related stress and personal achievement among consultant doctors. British Journal of Psychology, 87, 3±29. Deary, I. J., Peter, A., Austin, E., & Gibson, G. (1998). Personality traits and personality disorders. British Journal of Psychology, 89, 647±661. D'Zurilla, T. J., Nezu, A. M., & Maydeu-Olivares, A. (2000). Social problem-solving inventory Ð revised. North Tonawanda, NY: >Multi-Health Systems Inc. Egan, V., Deary, I., & Austin, E. (2000). The NEO-FFI: emerging British norms and an item-level analysis suggest N, A and C are more reliable than O and E. Personality and Individual Dierences, 29, 907±920 Hodgins, S. (1995). Major mental disorders and crime: An overview. Psychology, Crime and Law, 2, 5±17. Hughes, G., Hogue, T., Hollin, C. R., & Champion, H. (1997). First-stage evaluation of a treatment programme for personality disordered oenders. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 8, 515±527. Kant, G. L., & D'Zurilla, T. J. (1997). Social problem-solving as a mediator of stress-related depression and anxiety in middle-aged and elderly community residents. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21, 73±96. Matthews, G., Saklofske, D. H., Costa, P. T., Deary, I. J., & Zeidner, M. (1998). Dimensional models of personality: A framework for systematic clinical assessment. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 14, 35±48. McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1989). Rotation to maximise the construct validity of factors in the NEO Personality Inventory. Multivariate Behavioural Research, 24, 107±124. McDonald, D. A. (1995). The relationship between psychometric intelligence and the ®ve-factor model of personality in a rehabilitation sample. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 79±88. McGurk, B. J., & McDougall, C. (1981). A new approach to Eysenck's theory of criminality. Personality and Individual Dierences, 2, 338±340. McMurran, M., Richardson, C., Egan, V., & Ahmadi, S. (1999). Social problem-solving in mentally disordered oenders: A brief report. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 9, 315±322. Ross, R. R., Fabiano, E. A., & Ross, R. D. (1986). Reasoning and rehabilitation. Ottawa: University of Ottawa.
www.elsevier.com/locate/paid
The relationship between social problem-solving and personality in mentally disordered oenders Mary McMurran a,*, Vincent Egan b, Marie Blair c, Cathryn Richardson d a
Centre for Applied Psychology (Forensic Section), University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RB, UK b Department of Psychology, Arnold Lodge, Cordelia Close, Leicester LE5 0LE, UK c Department of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK d Clinical Psychology Doctorate, School of Health and Social Sciences, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5BH, UK Received 1 October 1999; received in revised form 25 January 2000; accepted 1 March 2000
Abstract Poor social problem-solving skills may account for some criminal behaviours in mentally disordered oenders, and social problem-solving may be mediated by personality traits. We examined the relationship between personality and social problem-solving in 52 mentally disordered oenders, (38 mentally ill and 14 personality disordered) detained in a regional secure unit. Since t-tests indicated no dierences between the mentally ill and personality disordered groups, they were pooled into a single sample. Correlations indicated that high neuroticism (N) was related to poor social problem-solving, and high scores on the other ®ve-factor traits were related to good social problem-solving. High N, which is a core feature of personality disorders as well as being a common feature of oenders, may signal emotional reactivity which militates against eective social problem-solving. N is, however, negatively correlated with extraversion (E), conscientiousness (C), and agreeableness (A), therefore partial correlations were conducted controlling for N. Once N is discounted, the main trait associated with problem-solving is openness (O), which is positively related to problem-solving, perhaps due to the relationship of O to intelligence and creativity. A positive correlation between E and a more positive problem orientation remains, perhaps because optimism is a de®ning feature of high E. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Personality; Social problem-solving; Mentally disordered oenders
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-116-252-5710; fax: +44-116-252-3994. E-mail address: [email protected] (M. McMurran). 0191-8869/01/$ - see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0191-8869(00)00050-7
518
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
1. Introduction De®cits in social problem-solving skills are associated with a number of emotional and behavioural problems in people of all ages, for example depression and anxiety in adults (Kant & D'Zurilla, 1997), hostility in adults (Cassidy & Long, 1996), and aggression in children (Akhtar & Bradley, 1991). One scale developed to measure social problem-solving is the Social ProblemSolving Inventory Ð Revised (SPSI-R; D'Zurilla, Nezu & Maydeu-Olivares, 2000). The SPSI-R has ®ve subscales, as follows: (1) Positive Problem Orientation (PPO), an optimistic attitude to tackling problems; (2) Negative Problem Orientation (NPO), a pessimistic attitude to solving problems; (3) Rational Problem Solving (RPS), a systematic approach to solving problems, including problem de®nition, problem analysis, and generation of alternative solutions; (4) Impulsive/Careless Style (ICS), an ill-thought out and hurried approach to tackling problems; and (5) Avoidance Style (AS), a tendency to procrastinate, blame others, or depend on others to solve one's problems. Using the SPSI-R, psychiatric patients and distressed samples (e.g., medical patients) have been shown to score more dysfunctionally than `normal' samples (D'Zurilla et al., 2000). The direction of causality is unclear; it may be that poor problem-solving predisposes people to experience emotional and behavioural problems, or that experiencing emotional or behavioural problems adversely impacts upon problem-solving abilities, or each of these propositions may pertain reciprocally. Poor social problem-solving is evident in forensic psychiatric patients. In a recent study of social problem-solving using the SPSI-R (D'Zurilla et al., 2000), it was established that forensic psychiatric patients show dysfunctional scores similar to those of non-forensic psychiatric patients (McMurran, Richardson, Egan & Ahmadi, 1999). Poor social problem-solving abilities may lead to criminal behaviours, such as violence, sexual oending, and arson, an oence being a maladaptive attempt to solve personal or interpersonal problems. Social problem-solving skills training with oenders shows promise as one of the components of successful rehabilitation programmes for prisoners (Ross, Fabiano & Ross, 1986) and personality disordered oenders (Hughes, Hogue, Hollin & Champion, 1997; McMurran et al., 1999). Further examination of social problem-solving in oenders is necessary, and one legitimate line of enquiry is the relationship between personality and social problem-solving. It may be that personality interferes with the acquisition or application of eective social problem-solving skills. Research into personality and social problem-solving could provide useful information about de®cits which would permit the more appropriate design of and selection for remediation and rehabilitation programmes. There is good evidence that a limited number of personality dimensions describe both normal and abnormal personalities, with the dierence being quantitative rather than qualitative (Deary, Peter, Austin & Gibson, 1998). The most widely accepted trait model these days is, arguably, the ®ve-factor model, and each of the ®ve factors has been associated with personality disorder (Costa & Widiger, 1994). Deary et al. (1998) suggest that understanding the client's personality helps the clinician to understand the presentation, aetiology, and prognosis of a person's problem. Matthews, Saklofske, Costa, Deary and Zeidner (1998) suggest that coping with problems in everyday life is, in part, determined by dispositional factors. They review coping styles in relation to the `Big Five' personality dimensions, namely neuroticism (N), extraversion (E), openness (O), agreeableness (A), and conscientiousness (C). Matthews et al. (1998) suppose
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
519
that high N may dispose a person to maladaptive coping through focusing on emotions, selfblame, escapist fantasy, withdrawal, and indecisiveness. By contrast, high E is putatively related to adaptive coping through an active and optimistic approach to problems. High O may predict a willingness to rethink the problem from dierent perspectives, and high C is probably associated with a strong task-focus. Matthews et al. (1998) make no speci®c claims for high A, but it might be assumed that those who score highly on this dimension could tend to avoid tackling interpersonal issues for fear of hurting others, whereas no such fear would hinder those lower in A. These possibilities lead us to speculate how the ®ve personality factors might correlate with the SPSI-R subscales. We predict that: (1) N is negatively related to constructive problem-solving dimensions (PPO and RPS) through feelings of being overwhelmed by problems and low selfecacy, and positively related to dysfunctional problem-solving dimensions (NPO, ICS, and AS), through negativity, carelessness, and avoidance; (2) E is positively related to PPO and negatively related to NPO through positivity and optimism, and negatively related to AS through the inclination to action; (3) given its association with intelligence and creativity, O is likely to be positively associated with RPS, which contains a `generation of alternatives' component; (4) A will be positively associated with AS in that a reluctance to displease may lead to avoidance of dealing with problems; (5) C will be negatively related to ICS and positively related to RPS through self-control and task-focus. Where an SPSI-R scale has not been mentioned, we hypothesise no relationship. Here, we examine personality traits and social problem-solving in a sample of mentally disordered oenders consisting of both mentally ill and personality disordered patients. Social problem-solving skills are important in that they are associated with dysfunctional interpersonal styles that may lead to highly destructive oending behaviours, whether the diagnosis is one of personality disorder or mental illness. Indeed, Hodgins (1995) hypothesises that, among oenders with a mental illness, those who started oending early in life and whose antisocial behaviour persists into adulthood are antisocial for the same reasons as non-mentally ill persistent oenders. It may be that the oending of many mentally ill oenders (though not all) is caused not by mental illness per se but by concomitant personality disorders. Given that we propose that personality plays a signi®cant part in the functioning of mentally ill and personality disordered oenders alike, we anticipate no dierences between these two groups. 2. Method 2.1. Sample An Ethics Committee approved database of psychological measures is kept on all patients in Arnold Lodge, a secure psychiatric unit for mentally disordered oenders detained under the Mental Health Act (1983). This database was set up in 1997 and by mid-1999 complete data on the measures relevant to this study were available for 52 patients. Only four patients were missing from this sample, two being too disturbed to complete the assessments and two refusing to participate. Of these patients, 38 were classi®ed as mentally ill and 14 as suering from psychopathic (personality) disorder, under the terms of the Mental Health Act (1983). The sample consisted of
520
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
50 men and two women, whose average age was 30.83 years (SD=8.84). Forty were described as white, eight African-Caribbean, one Asian, and three mixed race. 2.2. Measures 2.2.1. Social Problem-Solving Inventory Ð Revised (SPSI-R; D'Zurilla et al., 2000) The SPSI-R is a self-report questionnaire, consisting of 52 items, scored on a ®ve-point Likert scale, aimed at measuring social problem-solving. The SPSI-R has ®ve scales, two measuring problem-solving orientation Ð positive problem orientation (PPO) and negative problem orientation (NPO) Ð and three measuring problem-solving styles Ð rational problem-solving (RPS), impulsivity/carelessness style (ICS), and avoidance style (AS). PPO and RPO measure dimensions associated with constructive problem-solving, whereas NPO, ICS and AS measure dimensions associated with dysfunctional problem-solving. A total social problem-solving score (SPS) can be calculated from the ®ve scale scores using a formula which reverses scores on the dysfunctional scales. The SPSI-R scales show test±retest reliabilities between 0.68 and 0.91, and alpha coecients between 0.69 and 0.95 (D'Zurilla et al., 2000). Con®rmatory factor analysis, correlation with other problem-solving measures and overlapping psychological constructs, and correlation with measures of psychological distress, all support the validity of the SPSI-R (D'Zurilla et al., 2000). 2.2.2. NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1992) The NEO-FFI, which is a short form of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI; Costa & McCrae, 1992), is a self-report questionnaire aimed at measuring ®ve domains of personality Ð neuroticism (N), extraversion (E), openness (O), agreeableness (A) and conscientiousness (C). It consists of 60 items scored on a ®ve-point Likert scale. Correlations between the NEO-FFI domains and the same domains on the longer parent questionnaire, the NEO-PI, are upward of 0.68 (McCrae & Costa, 1989). The NEO-FFI accounts for around 85% of the variance in convergent validity criteria based upon self, spouse, and peer endorsements of descriptions of the ®ve traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992). This information suggests that these traits are reasonably valid and reliable, however, one diculty is that the ®ve scales measured by the NEO-FFI are not independent, N correlating negatively with E, C, and A (Deary et al., 1996; Egan, Deary & Austin, 2000). 3. Results Mean scores of mentally ill and personality disordered patients on both the SPSI-R and the NEO-FFI were compared using t-tests, results of which are presented in Table 1. Analyses revealed no signi®cant dierences between the two groups for the SPSI-R total score or any of its subscales, nor were there any signi®cant dierences between the groups on any of the dimensions of the NEO-FFI. Since our mentally ill and personality disordered oenders present indistinguishable pro®les on the measures used here, they were pooled into a single sample. Correlations between SPSI-R and NEO-FFI scores are presented in Table 2. Each personality dimension is signi®cantly related to the total SPS score, with N being strongly negatively related
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
521
Table 1 Mean scores on the SPSI-R scales and NEO-FFI factors for mentally ill (MI; n 38) and personality disordered oenders (PD; n 14) MI SPSI-R
PPO NPO RPS ICS AS SPS N E O A C
NEO-FFI
a b
11.56 18.08 38.69 16.28 10.77 11.25 25.60 22.80 23.43 27.43 29.15
ta
PD (4.51)b (10.86) (15.50) (9.76) (7.52) (3.65) (9.45) (5.47) (6.09) (4.76) (6.98)
10.62 20.08 35.31 19.00 12.62 10.09 28.14 25.36 24.00 24.71 30.50
(4.15) (8.08) (10.73) (10.07) (6.96) (3.04) (6.41) (5.05) (7.06) (6.68) (7.27)
0.67 ÿ0.61 0.73 ÿ0.86 ÿ0.78 1.02 ÿ0.93 ÿ1.53 ÿ0.29 1.64 ÿ0.62
For all t-values P > 0:05. Standard deviations in parentheses.
to SPS and the others positively related to SPS. The relationship between N and each of the SPSIR subscales is in the predicted direction, namely a negative relationship with positive problemsolving scales (PPO and RPS), and a positive relationship with negative problem-solving scales (NPO, ICS, and AS). As predicted, E is strongly positively related to PPO and negatively related to NPO, although it is not negatively related to AS as expected. O is positively related to RPS, con®rming our prediction, and is also negatively related to ICS. A is negatively related to ICS, but not related to AS as hypothesised. C is negatively related to ICS, as predicted, but not related to RPS as we thought it would be. Furthermore, C is positively related to PPO and negatively related to NPO. Since it has been established that N is negatively correlated with E, C, and A, we predicted that these associations could be due to the in¯uence of N on the correlations. We therefore conducted a partial correlation, controlling for the variance contributed by N. The results of the partial correlation, which are presented in Table 3, suggest that, once N is controlled for, the main trait associated with problem-solving is O. A positive, although weaker, correlation between E and PPO remains. Table 2 Correlations between NEO-FFI factors and SPSI-R scales for mentally disordered oenders (n 52)a
N E O A C a
PPO
NPO
RPS
ICS
AS
SPS
ÿ0.53 0.47 0.17 0.15 0.42
0.77 ÿ0.43 ÿ0.24 ÿ0.26 ÿ0.39
ÿ0.33 0.21 0.30 ÿ0.02 0.21
0.56 ÿ0.24 ÿ0.32 ÿ0.34 ÿ0.28
0.39 ÿ0.20 ÿ0.32 ÿ0.27 ÿ0.24
ÿ0.69 0.40 0.36 0.29 0.40
Note: P<0.05; P<0.01;
P<0.001.
522
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
Table 3 Partial correlations controlling for N between NEO-FFI factors E, O, A, and C, and SPSI-R scales for mentally disordered oenders (n 52)a
E O A C a
PPO
NPO
RPS
ICS
AS
SPS
0.25 0.14 0.00 0.20
ÿ0.02 ÿ0.26 ÿ0.07 0.01
0.39 0.27 ÿ0.12 0.06
0.08 ÿ0.32 ÿ0.23 0.00
0.01 ÿ0.30 ÿ0.19 ÿ0.05
0.05 0.40 0.14 0.09
Note: P<0.05;
P<0.01.
4. Discussion Mentally ill oenders and personality disordered oenders did not dier on social problemsolving abilities or personality dimensions, as measured by the SPSI-R and the NEO-FFI, respectively. This corroborates our view that personality traits play a large part in explaining the behaviour of a group of mentally ill patients, regardless of the mental illness, although this conclusion should be treated with caution in view of the small proportion of personality disordered patients in our sample. Nonetheless, these similarities are important as they imply that many mentally ill oenders require psychosocial interventions to address clinical and criminological problems and that focusing treatment on the symptoms of mental illness alone is insucient. Our knowledge of personality dimensions, as measured by the NEO-FFI, allowed us to predict reasonably accurately a person's problem-solving orientation and problem-solving style, as measured by the SPSI-R, although our set of hypotheses was not entirely accurate. It is evident that N, more strongly than any other trait, predicts problem-solving: high N is strongly associated with poor problem-solving, and these de®cits are in all aspects of problem-solving, as measured by the SPSI-R. In short, high N scorers feel threatened by problems, are pessimistic about their ability to solve problems, and avoid problems or are careless in their approach to problem-solving. There is much evidence that neuroticism is a core feature of personality disorders (e.g., Deary et al., 1998), and high N scorers report more, and more varied, problems, higher levels of distress, and a lesser ability to cope than low N scorers (Matthews et al., 1998). Here we suggest that one eect of neuroticism is to interfere with a person's social problem-solving abilities, thus contributing to personal and interpersonal problems, including crime. High N is generally found in oender populations (e.g., McGurk & McDougall, 1981) and may relate to poor social problem-solving and crime by the mechanism of variable, rapid-shifting, and primarily negative mood, in which excessive autonomic physical reactions occur to aversive stimuli, thus impeding ecient social problem-solving. In our study, it initially appeared that each of the other personality dimensions was also associated with problem-solving in that high E, O, A, and C are indicative of good overall problemsolving skills (SPS). After controlling for the eect of N on relationships, however, O remains positively related to rational problem-solving and negatively related to pessimism, impulsivity, and avoidance. Such a measured approach to solving problems is consistent with the notion that O is related to aspects of formal intellectual ability (McDonald, 1995). E remains positively
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
523
associated with optimism in relation to tackling problems, which one would expect since optimism is a de®ning feature of E. How does this information help us understand mentally disordered oenders? We have supposed that poor social problem-solving skills can lead a person to commit crimes, in that irrational or ineective approaches to interpersonal problems can be criminal, for example the use of aggression or violence in response to frustration, or setting ®re to another's property as a means of revenge for a perceived injustice. We have also supposed that poor social problem-solving is a mediator between personality and criminality, in that those with certain personality traits are less likely to learn or apply eective social problem-solving skills. Our study con®rms an association between personality and problem-solving in mentally disordered oenders, and thus directs research towards further exploration of the inter-relationships among personality, problem-solving and criminality. The ®ve-factor model has its critics (e.g., Block, 1995), and, rather than pursue this exclusively, other models could be studied, for example the two-dimensional model of Blackburn (1998). Meanwhile, does the association we have identi®ed provide us with any guidance for clinically relevant research? Social problem-solving skills training programmes could be designed to emphasise dierent components for dierent personality types, for example those scoring low on O might bene®t most from structured training in the speci®cs of problem-solving as well as selfcontrol training, whereas those low on E might bene®t from motivation enhancement and con®dence building. Those high on N would appear to require comprehensive interventions to change attitudes to problems, attenuate the association between unpleasant autonomic arousal and impulsive responding, and enhance problem-solving skills. Personality measures may predict who does best in which type of social problem-solving skills training, thus enabling therapists to select those most likely to bene®t. Thus, the ®ndings presented here could be used to develop both the content of social problem-solving interventions and methods of appropriate selection of clients for those interventions. Acknowledgements This work was supported by a grant from the National Hospital Trust, and was undertaken by sta of Leicestershire Mental Health Services NHS Trust, which received a proportion of its funding from the NHS Executive. Writing time was supported by the National Programme for Forensic Mental Health Research and Development. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors. References Akhtar, N., & Bradley, E. J. (1991). Social information processing de®cits of aggressive children. Clinical Psychology Review, 11, 621±644. Blackburn, R. (1998). Criminality and the interpersonal circle in mentally disordered oenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 25, 155±176. Block, J. (1995). A contrarian view of the ®ve factor approach to personality description. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 187±215.
524
M. McMurran et al. / Personality and Individual Dierences 30 (2001) 517±524
Cassidy, T., & Long, C. (1996). Problem-solving style, stress, and psychological illness: Development of a multifactorial measure. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 35, 265±277. Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-RTM) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Costa, P. T., & Widiger, T. A. (1994). Personality disorders and the ®ve-factor model of personality. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Deary, I. J., Blenkin, H., Agius, R. M., Endler, N. S., Zealley, H., & Wood, R. (1996). Models of job-related stress and personal achievement among consultant doctors. British Journal of Psychology, 87, 3±29. Deary, I. J., Peter, A., Austin, E., & Gibson, G. (1998). Personality traits and personality disorders. British Journal of Psychology, 89, 647±661. D'Zurilla, T. J., Nezu, A. M., & Maydeu-Olivares, A. (2000). Social problem-solving inventory Ð revised. North Tonawanda, NY: >Multi-Health Systems Inc. Egan, V., Deary, I., & Austin, E. (2000). The NEO-FFI: emerging British norms and an item-level analysis suggest N, A and C are more reliable than O and E. Personality and Individual Dierences, 29, 907±920 Hodgins, S. (1995). Major mental disorders and crime: An overview. Psychology, Crime and Law, 2, 5±17. Hughes, G., Hogue, T., Hollin, C. R., & Champion, H. (1997). First-stage evaluation of a treatment programme for personality disordered oenders. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 8, 515±527. Kant, G. L., & D'Zurilla, T. J. (1997). Social problem-solving as a mediator of stress-related depression and anxiety in middle-aged and elderly community residents. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21, 73±96. Matthews, G., Saklofske, D. H., Costa, P. T., Deary, I. J., & Zeidner, M. (1998). Dimensional models of personality: A framework for systematic clinical assessment. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 14, 35±48. McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1989). Rotation to maximise the construct validity of factors in the NEO Personality Inventory. Multivariate Behavioural Research, 24, 107±124. McDonald, D. A. (1995). The relationship between psychometric intelligence and the ®ve-factor model of personality in a rehabilitation sample. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 79±88. McGurk, B. J., & McDougall, C. (1981). A new approach to Eysenck's theory of criminality. Personality and Individual Dierences, 2, 338±340. McMurran, M., Richardson, C., Egan, V., & Ahmadi, S. (1999). Social problem-solving in mentally disordered oenders: A brief report. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 9, 315±322. Ross, R. R., Fabiano, E. A., & Ross, R. D. (1986). Reasoning and rehabilitation. Ottawa: University of Ottawa.