Substance-use patterns of 39 gay, lesbian, or bisexual students and a matched heterosexual control were followed through four years of college. Results showed greater alcohol involvement but not more drug involvement than was found for heterosexual students. Path analysis examined the relationship of alcohol involvement to psychological distress.…

Social cognitive career theory is used to investigate student intentions to enter the sport and leisure industry. Data are gathered from 197 undergraduate students from four universities located across the United States. Path analysis supports the general model, as self-efficacy and outcomes expectations hold positive associations with vocational…

A study tested paths predicted by Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) in the context of interactions between 105 Chinese and 283 Anglo-Australian students and 98 academic staff in situations of potential conflict. Videotapes of student-lecturer interactions in which speakers accommodated, over-accommodated, or under-accommodated were rated by…

A study using multivariate analysis investigated how self-judged academic effort among Chicano college students is directly affected by academic self-efficacy. Also examined were the indirect effects of students' perceptions of the soundness of the evaluation system on self-judged academic effort, and the effects of school context on effort. A…

Path analysis was used to test the predictive and mediational roles of self-efficacy beliefs in mathematics problem solving for 350 undergraduates. The predictive role of self-efficacy supports the hypothesized role of self-efficacy in the social cognitive theory of A. Bandura (1986). (SLD)

A study developed a valid and reliable instrument to measure learner empowerment and tested a model in which learner empowerment was caused by teacher communication behaviors and students' self-esteem. The model tested hypothesized teacher communication behaviors (relevance, verbal immediacy, and nonverbal immediacy) and student self-esteem as…

Three successive models were developed to test the existence of a need that leads individuals to select one mass medium over another and also to examine the idea of audience activity. Since it has been noted that uses and gratifications research has focused excessively on habitual media behaviors, the focus instead was on a medium where choice…

Two studies that compare the use of analysis of patterns in time (APT) (formerly non-metric temporal path analysis) and the linear models approach (LMA) are reported. In the first study, scores on the College Entrance Examination Board French Achievement Test (CEEBFAT), number of years of study of high school French (YHSF), and course achievement…

Nursing curricula and licensing examinations have shifted toward the skills and processes of nursing. When these components are overhauled, their predictive relationship must be reexamined. This research tests the causal influence of several antecedent and achievement variables on licensure test performance. A path model is developed from a theory…

A personality construct, preference for course difficulty, was related to test anxiety in a sample of 62 graduate students. Path analysis indicated that trait anxiety directly affects test anxiety and that preference for course difficulty affects test anxiety. The preference for course structure construct was validated. (LMO)

Using samples of college students of very high ability and strong academic background, sex differences in performance and perceptions of performance in introductory chemistry and mathematics courses were studied. Considerable differences favoring men were found, and these appeared to be due primarily to differences in mathematics background.…

Based on the theories of Murstein and Reiss, this study found significant relationships between physical attractiveness, need for intimacy, self-disclosure, thought about one's dating partner, and reported romantic love. Data were collected for 656 college students. Sex differences and comparisons of dating relationships of varying duration were…

An evaluation was made of the use of a computer network in an undergraduate physics course at the University of Liverpool (England). Computer use by 54 students was assessed via path analysis techniques. Students' backgrounds are extremely important in connection with their use and perceived usefulness of computer networks. (SLD)

Studies the relationship between attitudes toward Americans and social contact with Americans by Arab students at U.S. universities. Uses causal process-analysis and path analysis to show that desire for contact significantly mediated between attitude and contact, and that social contact was not significantly mediated by understanding of the host…

Used data from 134 female and 135 male, Caucasian, Protestant college students to develop a path model of psychosocial development. For both genders, identity encompassed both personal competence and social connection, and intimate relationships served as a bridge between the private and social selves. (SLD)