We review findings from research on smoking, alcohol, and other drug use, which show that the network approaCh is instructive for understanding social influences on substance use. A hypothetical network is used throughout to illustrate different network findings and provide a short glossary of terms. We then describe how network analysis can be used to design more effective prevention programs and to monitor and evaluate these programs. The article closes with a discussion of the inherent transdisciplinarity of social network analysis.
Two scales, one for measuring attitudes toward the fear of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and one for measuring attitude toward homosexuality, were constructed using Thurstone's method of equal-appearing intervals. After construction, the scales were given to 528 students at the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1985 to determine their respective reliabilities. Factor analyses were also done to determine what factors underlie the attitudes measured by the two scales and to determine if fear of AIDS and homophobia are in fact simply two facets of the same attitude: fear of homosexuals. The results indicated high reliabilities of both scales and a relatively low correlation between the two scales suggesting that the scales do measure different attitudes.
Style, which is also known as expressive movement, refers to the way in which behavior is performed. Two studies were conducted to develop measures of style, explore their dimensionality, and assess the validity of the dimensions. In the 1st study, Ss' style was rated by peers in everyday situations. A factor analysis produced four dimensions-Expressiveness, Animation, Expansiveness, and Coordination-which were internally consistent, stable over time, and stable across raters. In the 2nd study, style was assessed both by trained raters and by peers. There was evidence for the convergent validity of the dimensions: Within-trait, cross-method correlations were of a magnitude similar to those typically found in personality research. Sex differences and relationships with other personality traits, including masculinity-femininity, were also examined. Implications for person perception are discussed.
Upper Bound of Correlation Coefficient The correlation coefficient is usually calculated to reflect the relationship between two dichotomous variables. The standardized Cronbach's coefficient , based on the average correlation among items (see Equation 1), is computed from when items are dichotomous. A 2 2 frequency table (see Table 1) can be structured for two dichotomous items, X i and X j , with "yes" and "no" responses.
The World Wide Web (WWW) poses a distinct capability to offer interventions tailored to the individual's characteristics. To fine tune the tailoring process, studies are needed to explore how Internet accessibility and usage are related to demographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and other health related characteristics. This study was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on 2373 7 th grade students of various ethnic groups in Southern California. Measures of Internet use included Internet use at school or at home, Email use, chat-room use, and Internet favoring. Logistic regressions were conducted to assess the associations between Internet uses with selected demographic, psychosocial, behavioral variables and self-reported health statuses. The proportion of students who could access the Internet at school or home was 90% and 40%, separately. Nearly all (99%) of the respondents could access the Internet either at school or at home. Higher SES and Asian ethnicity were associated with higher internet use. Among those who could access the Internet and after adjusting for the selected demographic and psychosocial variables, depression was positively related with chat-room use and using the Internet longer than 1 hour per day at home, and hostility was positively related with Internet favoring (All ORs = 1.2 for +1 STD, p < 0.05). Less parental monitoring and more unsupervised time were positively related to email use, chat-room use, and at home Internet use (ORs for +1 STD ranged from 1.2 to 2.0, all p < 0.05), but not related to at school Internet use. Substance use was positively related to email use, chat-room use, and at home Internet use (OR for "used" vs. "not used" ranged from 1.2 to 4.0, p < 0.05). Self-reported health problems were associated with higher levels of Internet use at home but lower levels of Internet use at school. More physical activity was related to more email use (OR = 1.3 for +1 STD), chat room use (OR = 1.2 for +1 STD), and at school ever Internet use (OR = 1.2 for +1 STD, all p < 0.05). Body mass index was not related to any of the Internet use-related measures. In this ethnically diverse sample of Southern California 7 th grade students, 99% could access the Internet at school and/or at home. This suggests that the Internet is already a potential venue for large scale health communication studies. Adolescents with more psychosocial risk factors or detrimental health behaviors were more likely to use the Internet. Therefore, if used properly, Internet interventions could effectively address the high risk populations. Additional research is needed to gain a more complete understanding of the positive and negative consequences of Internet use among adolescents.
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