Weight and health locus of control beliefs in an australian community sample

Abstract

This research aimed to examine weight locus of control beliefs in a community sample, within the framework of Wallston's (1992) Modified Social Learning Theory. A sample of 457 males and 537 females from a high and low socioeconomic area of Melbourne completed a survey which included the Dieting Belief Scale (DBS) (Stotland and Zuroff, 1990). Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (HLOC) scale (Wallston. Wallston and DeVellis. 1978). Health as a Value (Lau, Hartman and Ware. 1986) scale, a measwe of Weight Control Self–efficacy. assessments of recent weight control behaviours and Body Mass Index. Weight and health were generally believed to be predominantly under internal control. Those in the higher SES were: less likely to believe chance/genetic factors determined a person's weight, and those in the higher compared to lower BMI group were more likely to believe weight to be internally controlled. There were no main effects of sex on the DBS subscales. Heavier males. however, were: less likely to believe chance/genetic factors controlled weight than normal BMI males. while the reverse was true in females. This research did not support the explanatory power of Wallston's (1992) Modified Social Learning Theory in relation to recent weight loss. DBS-Chance and DBS-Environment subscales, however, significantly added to the prediction of recent dieting, while DBS-Chance and Weight Control Self-efficacy contributed to the prediction of kilograms lost, after BMI and demographic variables had been taken into account.