Refer to the Journal of Adolescence (April 2010) study of adolescents’ disclosure of their dating and romantic relationships, Exercise. 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 tel,” 4 = “almost always tell,” and 5 = ”always tell). Multiple regression was used to model level of disclosure (y) to several 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 < .001. Interpret this result using α = .05.

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