Dating and disclosure. Refer to the Journal of Adolescence

(Apr. 2010) study of adolescents’ disclosure of their dating and romantic relationships, Exercise 8.43 (p. 419).

Data collected for a sample of 222 high school students were used to determine the level of disclosure of the date’s identity to an adolescent’s mother (measured on a 5-point scale, where 1 = “never tell,” 2 = “rarely tell,”

3 = “sometimes tell,” 4 = “almost always tell,” and 5 = “always tell”). Multiple regression was used to model level of disclosure (y) to seve ral independent variables, including gender (x1 = 1 if female, 0 if male), age (x2, years), dating experience (x3, years), and level of trust in parents

(x4, 5-point scale).

a. Give the equation of a first-order model for y as a function of the four independent variables.

b. The coefficient of determination for the model, part

a, was reported as R2 = .24. Give a practical interpretation of this value.

c. Give the null hypothesis for testing the overall adequacy of the model, part a.

d. The test, part

c, resulted in F = 56.60 with p@value 6 .001.

Interpret this result using a = .05.

e. The estimate of the beta coefficient for age (x2) was reported as -.09. Give a practical interpretation of this value.