Health locus of control beliefs of healthy children, children with a chronic physical illness, and their mothers.

Scales to measure health locus of control beliefs have been developed for both adults and children to assess the degree to which individuals believe their health to be the result of self-actions, the actions of "powerful" adults in their environment, or random events or fate. We have investigated how these locus of control beliefs differ at different ages and in relation to different illness experiences. Health locus of control beliefs vary consistently according to age and illness experience. Beliefs in the control of their health by chance and by powerful others are stated to be significantly stronger by younger than by older children, by children with certain chronic physical illnesses than by healthy children, and by parents of children with certain chronic physical illnesses than by parents of healthy children. The developmental trend suggested here confirms previously reported data regarding locus of control beliefs in children. The differences among children with and without a chronic physical illness, and especially among their parents, suggest that learning occurs from the experiences related to illness, resulting in an increased external orientation in locus of control beliefs. Health care professionals should be aware of the tendency for young children and for children with a chronic illness and their families to rely heavily on providers, perhaps to the detriment of their learning effective skills for independent health-related decision making.