[Control beliefs and patient compliance: an empirical study exemplified by adolescents with diabetes mellitus, bronchial asthma and alopecia areata].

The present paper focuses on the relation between control beliefs and the compliance of adolescents suffering from chronical diseases. It is assumed that the compliance will be high when the own behavior is regarded as most important for the improvement during illness (internal locus of control). A high compliance is also expected when the own state of health is seen as dependent from other persons, who are engaged in the therapeutic process (powerful others locus of control). Little compliance is expected when the state of health is regarded as dependent from fate or chance influences (chance locus of control). Thereover, it is assumed that the control beliefs are influenced by the specific disease of a patient, since diseases are controllable by the patients in different degrees and therefore should result in specific control beliefs. The theoretical assumptions were proved in an empirical study with 80 patients suffering from different diseases (Diabetes mellitus, Asthma bronchiale, Alopecia areata) and 366 healthy adolescents and adults. The results show a clear dependency of the control beliefs from the kind of disease of the patients. However, the relations between control beliefs and compliance are discrepant to the expectations which is shown mainly by null or negative correlations between internality and compliance. The empirical relations are explained by the self-reliant behavior of the internal patients which perhaps shows little compatibility to traditional concepts of compliance. The implications of the present results for the enhancement of compliance and for the definition of the compliance-concept are elaborated and discussed.