Self-efficacy, experience-seeking, and drug use in a select group of college students

Self-efficacy involves one's judgment of personal ability to accomplish a specific task in a particular setting. The theory has seldom been applied to avoidance behavior (such as drug refusal self-efficacy). The Drug Refusal Self-efficacy Scale (DRSS) was developed by the researcher to measure an individual's perception of the strength of his or her ability to employ skills to refuse drug use under specific circumstances. The Drug Use Scale (DUS) was also developed by the researcher to measure self-reported drug use. Experience seeking was measured with a shortened form of the Experience Seeking Scale (ESS) which is one of four subscales of the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS).;The primary problem to be addressed by conducting this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the DRSS and the DUS. Subjects were 438 students enrolled in 16 randomly selected sections representative of the 14,500 students enrolled in the 447 Physical Education Activity Sections at Texas A&M University during the fall semester of 1990.;The DRSS, ESS, and DUS were administered at the beginning and at the end of the semester. The DRSS had high internal reliability (alpha =.99), but low intraclass reliability (R...