Health locus of control and psychological distress in cancer patients: interactive effects of context.

Delineation of the relationship between health locus of control (HLOC) and psychological adjustment in chronic disease has been hampered by the failure to consider the moderating effect of contextual factors. The extent to which HLOC beliefs match the control realities in a situation (Reality Matching hypothesis) as well as the degree of threat (Threat hypothesis) posed by the situation were hypothesized to moderate the HLOC-distress relationship. Distress, disease severity (i.e., threat), and HLOC were assessed in 69 individuals with malignant disease undergoing evaluation for bone marrow transplantation. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the HLOC-distress relationship was moderated by disease severity and treatment history (i.e., whether an individual had failed prior cancer therapy). However, in some instances, the specific interaction relationships obtained differed from those evident in previous research with ESRD patients. It was concluded that there is no simple main effect relationship between HLOC beliefs and psychological adjustment. Rather, this relationship is best described by joint consideration of factors descriptive of the context in which the individual is embedded.