Health beliefs among New Zealand adolescents

A modified version of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale was administered to 837 adolescents, aged 15 years, to assess their beliefs about health. There were significant sex differences on the total scores of the internal and powerful others dimensions of the scale. MHLC beliefs were not significantly associated with self-reported ratings of general health or mental health. Significantly more distress due to the experience of negative life events was reported by females with a strong internal locus of control. Maternal health beliefs showed stronger associations with daughters' health beliefs than sons'. For males, strong beliefs in an internal locus of control and weak beliefs in chance were significantly associated with aspects of attachment, social support and self-perceived strengths. There were weak correlations for the majority of associations between health beliefs and health measures and most of the adolescents reported either good or very good health. The findings suggest that adolescents' health beliefs may be quite different from those of adults.