A psychometric evaluation of form C of the Multi-dimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC-C) Scale during early pregnancy

Abstract

The concept of locus of control (LOC) is an important psychological dimension within health research and the issue of personal control has become of increasing salience within the clinical domain of pregnancy, both psychologically and in relation to government policy. The current study sought to establish the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale form C (MHLC-C) in early pregnancy to assess the potential usefulness of this measure within this clinical population. Contrary to previous research, confirmatory factor analysis revealed the MHLC-C to be comprised of three distinct and correlated factors of “internal”, “chance” and “powerful others” LOC. A fourth sub-scale “doctors” was observed to be sensitive to the non-depressed/depressed status of participants. However, the “doctors” sub-scale lacked acceptable internal reliability in this clinical group. Further research is recommended to determine if developing the “doctors” sub-scale into a longer measure could enhance the potential utility of this measure.

Keywords:

• Depression
• Multidimensional Health Locus of Control
• pregnancy
• postnatal depression

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the women who participated in the current investigation. We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.