RELATIONSHIP AMONG HEALTH LOCUS-OF-CONTROL, VALUE OF HEALTH, AND HEALTH BEHAVIOR IN ADOLESCENTS.
Contributors: New York University.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 145
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Health.
Description: This study explores selected personality factors which may explain part of the variance in health behavior in adolescents. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggested that internal health expectancy and high value of health should be related to adolescents' choices of health behavior. Health expectancy was measured by the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales (Wallston, Wallston & DeVellis, 1978), value of health by the Value Survey (Wallston, Maides & Wallston, 1976), and adolescent health behavior by the Student Lifestyle Survey (McKillip & Taylor, 1979). The Student Lifestyle Survey measures ten components of health behavior as follows: (1) alcohol use, (2) smoking, (3) caffeine use, (4) sexual intercourse, (5) adequacy of sleep, (6) hours worked, (7) exercise frequency, (8) amount studied, (9) stress level, and (10) drug use. Factor analysis of the scale using principal factors with varimax rotation yielded four factors as follows: (1) alcohol use, drug use, sexual intercourse and smoking; (2) sleep and alcohol use; (3) exercise; and, (4) caffeine use and hours studied. Four hundred and twenty-two adolescents aged 14 through 18 who live in the New York Metropolitan area participated in the study. Hypothesized relationships among internal health locus of control, high value of health and lifestyle factors three and four were not supported. Using canonical correlation, all of the variables in this investigation together contributed to explaining 8.5% of the variance in adolescent health behavior. However, as less than 10% of shared variance existed between the two sets of variables, this relationship was treated as not meaningful. The major finding was a correlation between powerful others' health locus of control and lifestyle factor #1 (r =.20, p $<$.01).
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-06, Section: B, page: 1642.

Thesis (PH.D.)--NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, 1987.

School code: 0146.