Brief Description
The Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scales were developed to assess whether the respondent understands their health-related behaviors as primarily internal, a matter of chance, or under the control of powerful others. These scales are based on earlier work with a general Health Locus of Control scale, which, in turn, was developed from Rotter's social learning theory. The MHLC is used to assess the level of perceived control of patients with chronic disease. It can be helpful in predicting or explaining a number of health behaviors for several health conditions.
There are 3 MHLC forms. Forms A & B are the "general" health locus of control scales. Form C is designed to be "condition-specific" and can be used in place of Form A/B when studying people with an existing health/medical condition. On Form C, respondents rate the extent of how much they agree or disagree with the symptoms related to their medical condition listed (e.g., “As to my condition, what will be will be”) on a scale from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree.”
Assessment Administration Type
Self-report
Number of questions
18
Age Range for Administration
13+
Recommended Frequency of Administration
No standardized frequency; recommend administering monthly or as clinically indicated.
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
The MHLC-C contains 18 questions scored on a 6-point Likert scale with values from 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 6 (“Strongly Agree”). A total score for each subscale is calculated by summing the item responses and ranges from 6 to 36 (Internal and Chance) and 3-18 (Doctors and Other People); higher scores within each subscale are associated with higher levels of attribution about one’s health behaviors within that category. See the table below for score interpretations.
Subscale | Possible Range | Items |
Internal | 6-36 | 1, 6, 8, 12, 13, 17 |
Chance | 6-36 | 2, 4, 9, 11, 15, 16 |
Doctors | 3-18 | 3, 5, 14 |
Other People | 3-18 | 7, 10, 18 |
Blueprint Adjustments
N/A
Clinical Considerations
Estimated completion time: 2-5 minutes
Citation
Relevant Articles + Further Resources
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