YOUNG-ADULT WOMEN - LIFE-STYLE AND HEALTH LOCUS OF CONTROL

A study of 76 young adult women, 38 nursing students and 38 non-nursin g students, examined their lifestyle practices and health locus of con trol (HLOC). Findings revealed a significant difference between report ed lifestyle practices and the career choice of these young adult wome n. The lifestyle practice areas in which the most notable differences occurred included: use of seat belts, frequency of alcohol use, freque ncy of junk food intake, use of illegal drugs and hours of sleep per n ight. While differences in HLOC were evident between nursing and non-n ursing students, no relationship was found between a young woman's HLO C and her lifestyle practices. The differences in HLOC showed that nur ses were more frequently pure internal whereas most non-nurses were fo und to be double externals. The pure chance category had the fewest nu mber of respondents. The difference in lifestyle practices between the se young adult women can be explained in part by curriculum variations , as can the difference in HLOC patterns.