Authors: Sukrivinder, Professor (Dr.) Sushma Rani
Abstract: Problem solving occupies a central place among the capacities that schooling is expected to cultivate, and a growing body of research suggests that an adolescent's confidence in their own capability, broadly termed Mental Health in the present study, is closely bound up with how well that capacity develops. The present paper reports the findings of a study undertaken to examine the relationship between Problem Solving Ability and Mental Health among adolescent students of Yamuna Nagar district, Haryana, and to determine whether male and female, and urban and rural, adolescents differ significantly on either variable. A sample of one hundred and twenty Class VI students was drawn through random sampling from four secondary schools, balanced across gender and locale. Data were gathered using two standardised tools — the Problem Solving Ability Test (Dubey) and the Mental Health Scale (Mathur & Bhatnagar) — and analysed using Pearson's correlation and the independent samples t-test at the 0.05 level of significance. Results showed a significant positive relationship between the two variables, a significant gender difference favouring females on Mental Health, no significant gender difference on Problem Solving Ability, and significant differences favouring urban students on both variables. The paper discusses these findings in the light of existing research and offers implications for teachers and schools.
