Development and Validation of the Parent Health Locus of Control Scales

We describe the development and validation of the Parent Health Locus of Control (PHLOC) scales. Using factor analytic and item analytic methods, 30 items comprising six scales were extracted from a pool of 84 items. The individual scales correspond to beliefs in Child, Divine, Fate, Media, Parental, and Professional Influence over child health. Results were compared for six samples totalling 822 parents. Internal consistency reliabilities were above .70 for all scales with all samples. Test-retest correlations based on a separate sample were all above .60. Validity was assessed by means of a known groups strategy that made use of presumed differences among the six samples studied. The results generally agreed with predicted differences, offering good initial evidence of the validity for the PHLOC scales.