Professionals who work with youth often have many questions about how to use a Positive Youth Development strategy. Your questions are answered in this Q&A.

A Biographical Questionnaire (BQ) has been used in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand since the mid-80s, to identify potential to succeed at university among applicants who have not met the requirements for automatic admission. As the key instrument in a special admissions process, the BQ's history and assumptions are…

This study longitudinally tracks 10th grade students for 4 years regarding their persistence in aspirations of teaching careers using a nationally representative sample (National Educational Longitudinal Survey of 1988). Factors contributing to persistence in aspirations of teaching careers are examined based on the social-cognitive career theory…

The concept of internal versus external locus of control has challenged researchers since its inception in the 1950s and 1960s. Implications of locus of control for student achievement and success in school were the focus for this research. The Rotter Internal-External Scale was administered to 282 high school students in Brandon, Manitoba…

People's beliefs about the origins of their health, sometimes referred to as health locus of control, have been shown to influence a variety of important behaviors, including the propensity to engage in effective health maintenance activities, and the willingness to seek and follow medical advice. The purpose of the present study was to explore…

Numerous theories have attempted to explain possible factors relating to an individual's propensity for engaging or failing to engage in preventative health behaviors. The Health Locus of Control (HLOC) is now considered to be an important variable for understanding an individual's likelihood for following health promoting behaviors. This paper…

The study investigated the following: (1) the relationship of problem solving appraisal to narcissistic vulnerability, locus of control, and depression; (2) the differences in problem solving appraisal, locus of control, and depression in first-time and repeat offenders; and (3) the prediction of problem solving appraisal by narcissistic…

The relationship between locus of control and academic achievement was studied for 42 adolescent black males identified as at-risk by their teachers. The Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control scale (NS-LOC) for children was used as a measure of locus of control. School grade average and the Stanford Achievement Test (SFAT) battery composite provided…

This paper proposes strategies of motivation in computer based instruction (CBI) derived from motivational foundations of cognitive, affective, and social learning theories. The assumption made here is that motivation and achievement interact in ways that warrant a "holistic" examination of strategies incorporated into CBI. Thus motivation in CBI…

This study compared responses to three vignettes describing incidents between a male patient and a female nurse that involved the nurse being mildly assaulted, severely assaulted, or verbally abused (the control condition) by the patient. After reading each vignette, 32 of 42 female senior-year nursing students and 28 of 48 practicing nurses…

Studies of child and adolescent life experiences have attempted to determine how certain situational and psychological factors interact to moderate the effects that stressful life events have on adjustment. In this study a prospective design was used to examine the effects of negative life events and locus of control on emotional well-being. A…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of three computer-assisted instruction (CAI) locus of instructional control strategies--learner control, learner control with advisement, and program control--on posttest performance and anxiety. The instructional content was a lesson addressing the effects of alcohol on the body. To examine the…

This study examined two models of stress in early adolescence during the transition from elementary to middle school. One model suggested that role strain would predict self-esteem, with perceived competence and social support serving as moderators of strain. The second model predicted that self-esteem, perceived competence, and social support…

The relationship between self-regulation, using measures from the affective and cognitive domains, and academic performance was investigated for 62 middle-school (grade 6) students. Key aspects of self-regulated learning studied were planning and self-assessment. A range of affective variables, including self-concept and locus of control, was also…

Previous research has demonstrated an association between locus of control in adolescence and a successful transition to adulthood. Having an external locus of control has been implicated as an important factor in adolescent behaviors such as teenage pregnancy and delinquency, and has been found to be negatively related to school achievement. This…