Background: Because research shows that reducing problem solving skills causes problems such as reduced academic achievement and academic achievement in elementary students. Although these dimensions and constituent components have been identified, there is a research gap in the psychometric study of these characteristics in the study population. Understanding the dimensions and components of it is very important. The question is, what are the components and dimensions of the elementary students' problem-solving skills questionnaire?
Aims: The aim of this research was to study the psychometric properties of the problem-solving skills questionnaire Heppner and Petersen in primary school students of Birjand
Methods: The method of the present study was correlation in terms of the purpose of the application in terms of the nature of the data. The statistical population of the present study included all male and female students in the sixth grade of elementary school in Birjand who were studying in public and non-public schools in the 98-99 academic year. 245 people (92 boys and 149 girls) were selected by multi-stage random cluster sampling. Participants answered the Hepner (1982) problem-solving skills questionnaire and Solomon and Rothblum (1984) academic procrastination questionnaires in a single session, in a classroom performance with the same arrangement of tools, respectively.
Results: confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the construct validity of the problem-solving skills questionnaire. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the three-factor structure of the scale has an acceptable fit with the data and all the fit indices also confirmed the fit of the model. (χ/df= 2.56؛ GFI= 0.97, NFI= 0.96, NNFI= 0.97, CFI= 0.97). Also, in order to estimate the divergent validity, the results of independent t-test showed that the average problem-solving skills of the non-procrastinating group was about 16 points higher than the procrastinating group (P < 0.05). Also, the reliability of the components and the whole scale of problem-solving skills (self-confidence in problem solving: 0.80, tendency- avoidance problem: 0.78, personal control: 0.70 and problem-solving skills: 0.91) using Cronbach's alpha methods were appropriate
Conclusion: Overall, the results of the present study provided evidence for the validity and reliability of the Problem-Solving Skills Questionnaire as a tool for assessing students' problem-solving skills and can be used by researchers, therapists and academic advisors.