Locus of Control and Academic Efficacy in the Thoughts of Life and Death of Young Quebec University Students
Abstract
Abstract: This study evaluated the role of control and efficacy expectations in the thoughts of life and death of 50 male and 50 female university students and investigated sex differences in this regard. It followed a correlational design and employed measures of tridimensional locus of control, expectations of academic efficacy, thoughts of life and death. A comparison of means revealed that male students did not differ from their female counterparts on any of the variables under study. Stepwise regression coefficients indicated that the two cognitive factors accounted more for thoughts of death than for thoughts of life; expectations of academic efficacy were the single variable that most explained variance. Regression equations by sex showed that thoughts of life were associated with internality and expectations of academic efficacy in females, and that thoughts of death were associated with expectations of academic inefficacy in males. The university counseling personnel should be especially sensitive to youths presenting with expectations of externality and of academic inefficacy. The latter variable seems to be particularly important, regardless of sex.
References
Social learning theory.. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall (1977).
Assessment of suicidal intention: The scale for suicidal ideation.. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, (1979). 47, 343–352
Meanings of gender and suicidal behavior during adolescence.. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, (1997). 27, 339–351
Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.).. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum (1988).
Évaluation du contrôle ‘Control evaluation’.. In JD Guelfi, V Gaillac, R Dardennes (Eds.), Psychologie quantitative (pp.220-229). Paris: Masson (1995).
French-Canadian adaptation of the scale for suicidal ideation.. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, (1987). 19, 50–55
Positive and negative attitudes mediating suicidal ideation.. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, (1991). 21, 360–373
Relationships among locus of control, coronary-prone behavior and suicidal ideation.. Psychological Reports, (1985). 57, 1155–1158
Suicide and depression among college students: A decade later.. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, (2001). 32, 97–100
Transition to first-year university: Patterns of change in adjustment across life domains and time.. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, (2000). 19, 544–567
The study of suicidal behavior in the schools.. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, (1989). 19, 120–130
Depression, self-defeating, and self-destructive behaviors as predictors of suicidal ideation in males and females.. Psychological Reports, (1999). 84, 63–66
L'IPAH, Adaptation française de l'Échelle de Levenson mesurant le lieu de contrôle tridimensionnel ‘The IPAH: A French-Canadian adaptation of the tridimensional locus of control of Levenson’.. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, (1987). 19, 74–85
Men, feminism, and men's contradictory experiences of power.. In H Brod, M Kaufman (Eds.), Theorizing Masculinities (pp.144-147). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (1994).
Vers un modèle cognitif des idéations suicidaires chez des étudiants de l'Université de Montréal ‘Toward a cognitive model of suicidal ideation among young Quebec university students’.. Doctoral thesis, Montreal (1994).
Validation canadienne-française du Reasons for Living Inventory ‘French-Canadian validation of the Reasons for Living Inventory’.. Science et Comportement, (1996). 24, 237–250
Locus of control, depression and suicidal ideation.. Perceptual and Motor Skills, (1989). 69, 1158–
Differentiating among internality, powerful others, and chance.. In HM Lefcourt (Ed.), Research with the locus of control construct (vol.1): Assessment methods (pp.15-63). New York: Academic Press (1981).
Reasons for staying alive when you are thinking of killing yourself: The Reasons for Living Inventory.. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, (1983). 51, 276–286
Locus of control as an indicator of risk for suicidal behavior among adolescents.. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, (1993). 88, 409–414
A factor analysis of six commonly used instruments associated with suicide using college students.. Journal of Personality Assessment, (1990). 55, 804–811
Gender differences in the psychosocial correlates of suicidal ideation among adolescents.. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, (1992). 22, 364–373
Perspectives on college student suicide.. Amityville, NY: Baywoo (1994).
Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.. Psychological Monographs, (1966). 80, Whole No.609–
Suicide ideation in a college population: A test of a model.. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, (1982). 50, 690–696
Suicide among college students: Assessment, treatment, and intervention.. In SJ Blumenthal, DJ Kupfer (Eds.), Suicide over the life cycle (pp.303-340). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pres (1990).
Factors underlying suicidal ideation among college students: A test of Teicher and Jacobs' model.. Journal of Adolescence, (1990). 13, 39–52
Development of the college student reasons for living inventory.. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, (1992). 22, 442–452
Internal-external control dimensions as related to accident and suicide proneness.. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, (1969). 33, 485–494
