The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of social interaction and social distance or comfort among five undergraduate ethnic groups (African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Caucasian Americans, and Hispanic Americans) at Oregon State University. Another purpose was to explore the correlation between the level of social contact and comfort or social distance among the five ethnic groups. The sample included 284 full time continuing undergraduate students at Oregon State University. The contact scale included items measuring the number of acquaintances, frequency of interaction, positive degree of feeling, number of friends, and duration of contact. The comfort scale was a modified version of Byrnes and Kiger's (1988) Social Scale. It asked respondents to rate from one (very uncomfortable) to seven (very comfortable) their comfort with people of different ethnicities in six roles as: president of the United States, a counselor, a professor, a small group member in a classroom or group activity, a roommate, or a date. Two-way analyses of variance provided comparative information about ethnicity and gender. Newman-Keuls tests of significance were also employed. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to investigate the relationship between contact and comfort. Results of the study showed that students were generally comfortable with all groups, but least comfortable with Asian Americans. As a group, Asian Americans were less comfortable with other groups than were other ethnic groups. Minority groups were most comfortable with their own group. All minority groups except African Americans were significantly more comfortable with Caucasian Americans than with other minority groups. Correlations between contact and comfort for each group were positive and significant in all but 18 of 60 correlations performed. They were not significant for American Indians as either respondent or target group. In addition, results showed that there are not as many American Indian students at OSU as was originally thought. Further, students indicated little interaction with American Indians. / Graduation date: 1992

Recent research has proposed a new stage in human development, termed emerging adulthood by Jeffrey Arnett, which is characterized by a prolonged journey to adult roles and responsibilities. This thesis explores the experience of Chinese emerging adults, university students aged 20-25 years using Erikson’s and Levinson’s developmental theories as a theoretical framework. These authors proposed that three major developmental tasks are necessary for the transition to adulthood: separating from family of origin, forming an adult identity and finding the place for the self in the larger society. Qualitative interviews were conducted virtually with 12 Chinese university students to understand their perceptions and lived experience. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts. The results suggest Chinese emerging adults (a) have a low level of separation from parents; (b) have not formed a clear sense of identity and have not achieved a self-definition in adulthood; and (c) have not made initial commitments to love and work. It is speculated that the Chinese sociocultural context may further postpone its young adults’ independence and autonomy, and this prolonged transition to adulthood is both positive and problematic to Chinese young adults. This study lends support to Arnett’s emerging adulthood theory through its exploration of emerging adulthood in China, where, to date, little research has been done on this subject. It provides rich descriptions of the experience of Chinese emerging adults’ lives and enhances understandings of the role of culture in influencing the emerging adulthood period.

El objetivo general de esta tesis has sido poner a prueba un modelo 'heurístico' que sirva para explicar las relaciones existentes entre: las creencias de autoeficacia de los estudiantes, los obstáculos-facilitadores que los éstos perciben, sus niveles de burnout-engagement relacionados con sus estudios y su rendimiento académico. Además, también se ha puesto a prueba la eficacia de una intervención diseñada expresamente para incrementar los niveles de autoeficacia de los estudiantes universitarios. Para llevar a cabo este objetivo se han realizado cuatro estudios transversales y un estudio cuasi-experimental. De este modo, los resultados descritos en esta tesis permiten articular y cuantificar la relación existente entre las variables anteriormente descritas (autoeficacia, obstáculos-facilitadores, burnout-engagement y rendimiento).

The field study explores the experiences that Chinese students at Beijing Normal University have fromCareer Orientation (CO) and examines the purpose that career teachers at the university have in theCO-work. Interviews with three career teachers and five students were done.The results show that all of the students had experiences from CO in different forms. However, mostof the experiences that the students had from CO were connected to lectures about work possibilitiesand preparations rather than one-on-one career guiding sessions with a career teacher. Furthermore,the experiences also showed that the work that was done by the career teachers was much focused tothe end of the student’s education and the transmission from education to labor market.

<strong>Background. </strong> Post-secondary institutions account for more smokers than any other occupational setting in Canada (Hammond, 2005). Unfortunately, little is known about tobacco use among this distinct population of students. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of smoking and patterns of cigarette use among undergraduates at the University of Waterloo. The current study also sought to investigate the role of school connectedness in predicting students? smoking behaviours, and to explore the relation of student smoking status as determined by a behavoural measure and self-reported smoking status. <br /><br /> <strong>Methods. </strong> A secondary analysis of data collected using the University of Waterloo Tobacco Use Survey (2004) was employed for this research. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, means, and percentages), non-parametric statistics (chi-square and Cohen?s kappa), principle components factor analysis and logistic regression in order to serve the exploratory purposes of the study. <br /><br /> <strong>Results. </strong> Overall, 17. 55% of the respondents reported current cigarette use (3. 37% daily; 14. 18% non-daily). Although most (85. 5%) students? self-perceptions remained as ?nonsmokers who never smoke? from university entrance to the study date, a greater proportion of students made a negative change in their self-perceived smoking status over this time period than a positive change (10. 13% vs. 4. 38%, respectively). Among students who perceived themselves as ?nonsmokers who never smoke? or ?ex-smokers? at university entrance, being more academically engaged predicted making a negative change in ones? self-perceived smoking status (OR= 1. 924, CI₉₅= 1. 064-3. 480). Finally, the proportion of non-daily smokers differed between the two measures of smoking status. Many students classified as ?occasional smokers? using the behavioural measure actually perceived themselves as ?nonsmokers who smoke sometimes?. <br /><br /> <strong>Discussion. </strong> The results of this study provide valuable new insights into smoking among Canadian university students. Students who are more academically engaged may be at risk of initiating smoking, perhaps as a means of stress reduction. Furthermore, the adult measure of occasional smoking typically used in tobacco research may be insufficient to inform tobacco control efforts for this population as it results in different proportions of non-daily smokers when compared against students? self-perceived smoking status. The findings of this exploratory research await replication with larger samples and different measures. Implications of the results for practice and further research are discussed. <br /><br /> <strong>Conclusions. </strong> This strategy of assessing connectedness to school shows promise in predicting post-secondary students? cigarette smoking behaviours. The results also provide support for continued investigation into the best ways to measure and assess current cigarette use in this unique population.

This thesis analyzed if undergraduate students at a Southern university use the term outercourse to describe sexual behaviors that exclude penile-vaginal intercourse. A literature review revealed that no universal definition of outercourse exists and no forward progression toward a more cohesive definition was observed. Furthermore, 22 various sexual behaviors were recognized as possible outercourse behaviors. Following the literature review, a quantitative study with a minor qualitative component was conducted at a large Southern university. For this phase, 426 students responded to a 34-item online survey. After providing basic demographic information, students were asked to select the single term to describe sexual behaviors that do not include penile-vaginal intercourse. Furthermore, students were asked to determine whether or not they would classify 28 various sexual behaviors as outercourse. The respondents were provided space after each behavior to qualify or elaborate upon any uncertainty they had about the classification of a behavior. Frequencies were tabulated for the qualitative responses to each behavior. The number of comments ranged from 2 to 85 and sadomasochistic activity garnered the most comments (85). Frequency statistics were computed for all quantitative variables. Crosstabs were calculated to determine the demographic characteristics of respondents and non-respondents for each behavior. The results revealed that a majority of the respondents were female (67.4%) and heterosexual (95.5%). Respondents preferred the term "fooling around" (63.4%) instead of outercourse (3.4%) to refer to sexual behaviors that exclude penile-vaginal intercourse. The respondents determined ten behaviors to be outercourse, five behaviors to not be outercourse, and 13 behaviors could not be classified due to the lack of a majority response. For each of the sexual behaviors, approximately 25% of the sample did not provide a response. Crosstabs revealed that freshmen students were more likely than their upperclassman counterparts to omit a response to a behavior. In contrast, juniors were most likely to respond to the sexual behavior questions. The findings from this thesis have provided a catalyst for future interdisciplinary research endeavors and practical implications for health educators and medical professionals who work with undergraduate students.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships of learned resourcefulness and conflict behaviors of university students. The sample of the study consisted of 393 (253 females, 140 males) volunteered undergraduate students from Faculty of Education in Middle East Technical University in Ankara. The data were gathered by administering two instruments, namely Rosenbaum&rsquo / s Self-Control Schedule (SCS) and Conflict Behaviors Questionnaire (CBQ). The results of MANOVA employed to CBQ scores revealed significant main effects for learned resourcefulness groups and gender. The interaction effect of gender and learned resourcefulness levels was not significant. The results of ANOVA yielded a significant difference between high and low learned resourcefulness groups in collaborating behavior, indicating that, as compared to low resourceful group, high resourceful group reported higher usage of collaborating behavior in conflict situations. Findings also seemed to suggest that, in conflict situations, those in the high resourcefulness group tended to use compromising behaviors more than those in low resourcefulness group. No significant difference was found in any of the other conflict behaviors as a function of learned resourcefulness.

This study consists of two phases for the purpose of investigating (a) the construct of wellness and its relationships with self-esteem, physical symptoms, art self-concept, and gender, and (b) the effect of Art-Enriched Wellness Program (AWP) on improving wellness levelof Middle East Technical University (METU) students. In the first phase of the study, four questionnaires, namely Wellness Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Physical Symptom Checklist, and Art Self-Concept Scale were administered to 629 METU students (297 male, 300 female, 32 indicated no gender). The results of explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis yielded a 30 items scale with 4 factors / cognitive-emotional wellness (CEW), relational wellness (RW), life-goal (LG), and physical wellness (PW). The results of five separate multiple linear regression analyses revealed that all the suggested independent variables, i. e., self-esteem, gender, physical symptoms and art self-concept were the predictors of the total wellness scores. As for the subscores, significant predictors appeared as / self-esteem and physical symptom for the CEW scores / gender, self-esteem and art-self-concept for the RW scores / self-esteem and art-self concept for the LG scores / and physical symptom, gender, and self-esteem for the PW scores. In the second phase of the study, for the purpose of testing the effectiveness of Art-enriched Wellness Program (AWP) developed by the researcher, an experimental design with one treatment and one non-treatment control group and four measurements (pre, post, and two follow-ups with two-week and four-month intervals) was used with a sample of 16 participants ( N = 6 for the treatment group, 3 females and 3 males / N = 10 for the non-treatment control group, 8 females and 2 males). The experimental group participated in 20 hours- 8 week AWP (each session was 2.5 hours), while the non-treatment control group received no treatment during that time. Results of a series of Mann Whitney U tests revealed that AWP was effective in increasing total wellness scores of the experimental group subjects both in post-test and in follow-up 1 measures. It was also effective in increasing CEW scores of experimental group subjects in the post-test and follow-up 1, and in increasing LG scores of them in follow-up 1.

The purposes of this study were to examine (a) physical activity participation levels, (b) exercise stages of change levels and (c) physical activity preferences of the Middle East Technical University undergraduate students with respect to gender, residence and faculty. Participants were 953 students from 5 different faculties (496 male, and 547 female). For the data collection, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Physical Activity Stages of Change Questionnaire, and Physical Activity Preferences Questionnaire were used. Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, median, percentage), and nonparametric statistical methods (Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson chi-square test) were used for the data analysis. According to the IPAQ, male students were more physically active than female counterparts. Students who were living in campus had higher physical activity levels, and faculty of architecture students were more sedentary compared to other faculty students (p &lt / 0.05). In general, 24.8% of the students were physically active, 59.9% of the students were moderately active, and 15.3% of them were inactive. The results on exercise stages of change revealed that male students were at upper stages as compared to the female students. Faculty of architecture students were at lower stages compared to the other faculty students (p &lt / 0.05). There was no significant differences on the stages of students who were living in and out of the campus (p &gt / 0.05). In general, students at pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance stages were 15.2%, 31.4%, 25.3%, 7.5%, and 20.6% respectively. Swimming (59.2%), walking (56.7%), cycling (36.2%) and football (30.4%) were the most frequently preferred physical activities. Dancing and tennis were preferred more with the female students while football and basketball preferred more with the male students. Physical activity preferences of students living in and out of campus were similar. In conclusion, female students, students living out of the campus and students of faculty of architecture were more at risk. Approximately 75% of the METU undergraduate students&rsquo / physical activity levels were not satisfactory for a healthy life. University physical activity facilities, extracurricular programs and the courses should be reconsidered based on the findings of this study.

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate predictive value of gender, attachment dimensions, and family environment in determining students&amp / #8217 / loneliness level. For this purpose, firstly, the effect of gender, attachment types and family environment on loneliness level was investigated. The participants of the study were 473 (281 females and 192 males) students from different departments of Ankara University. Participants were administered UCLA Loneliness Scale, Family Environment Assessment Scale, and Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire. Data analysis were carried out by three-way ANOVA (2 gender X 2 Family Environment X 4 Attachment Type) to investigate the effect of gender, attachment types and family environment on loneliness level and Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis to investigate predictive value of gender, attachment dimensions, and family environment in determining students&amp / #8217 / loneliness level. The results of three-way ANOVA yielded that while main effects were significant, interaction effects were not significant. Post-hoc analysis revealed that male students were lonelier than females / Families with low coherence scores were lonelier than families with high coherence scores and individuals with fearful pattern of attachment were lonelier than individuals with secure, dismissing, and preoccupied patterns of attachment. Stepwise multiple regression analysis also showed that, attachment types, family environment and gender together explained the 19 % of variance in loneliness.