Health Locus of Control, Exercise Self-efficacy, and Exercise Benefits/Barriers of Female College Students.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between health locus of control, exercise self-efficacy and exercise benefits/barriers of female college students.

METHODS

Convenient sampling was used to recruit participants from a University based in Pusan. Data were collected from October 15 to December 20, 2007, and participants were 322 students. The questionnaires administered consisted of Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (HLOC) Scales, Exercise Self-efficacy Scale, and Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The mean scores for the HLOC among female students was HLOC-I: 22.24, HLOC-P: 16.82, HLOC-C: 15.16. The mean scores were exercise self-efficacy: 37.45, exercise benefit: 2.96, and exercise barriers: 2.89. The 'double external' response pattern of HLOC was the largest group in female students with significant difference in exercise benefit between response patterns of HLOC. There were significant correlations between HLOC-I, exercise self-efficacy, and exercise benefit/barriers.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study suggest that tailored health management program by pattern of HLOC should be developed to promote the exercise behavior and enhance the exercise self-efficacy and benefit for female students.