HEALTH LOCUS OF CONTROL IN MALAWI - A FAILURE TO SUPPORT THE CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDITY OF THE HLOCQ

The validity of the Health Locus of Control Questionnaire (HLOCQ; Lau and Ware 1981) was considered in the context of a study of health beli ef and behaviour in 415 undergraduate students of the University of Ma lawi on the occasion of their enrolment health check-up. Internal cons istency of the four originally defined sub-scales of the HLOCQ (Chance Health Outcomes, Provided Control over Health, General Health Threat and Efficacy of Self-Care) were, with the Malawi sample, poor (0.50, 0 .51, 0.12 and 0.37 respectively). Factor analysis suggests a three fac tor structure as a more suitable explanatory structure for the respons es of the current sample population. The two largest factors were labe lled 'Influence over Health' (IOH) and 'Limits of Medical Care' (LMC) respectively, while the third factor involved a heterogeneous grouping of items (defining a sub-scale of very low internal consistency). Sco res on the factors IOH and LMC significantly correlated with certain r esponses regarding the controllability of the health risks malaria, bi lharzia and AIDS indicated on a Perceptions of Illness Questionnaire. While this encourages the further exploration of these variables in un derstanding belief and behaviour regarding tropical health risks in tr opical settings, the psychometric weakness of these factors derived fr om the original HLOCQ item pool is noted.