Perceived Health Locus of Control, Self-Esteem, and Its Relations to Psychological Well-Being Status in Iranian Students

Health locus of control (HLC) has been associated with a variety of ailments and health outcomes and de­signed to predict behaviors and cognitive processes relevant to mental and physical health. This study investigated the relation­ships between perceived health locus of control, self-esteem, and mental health status among Iranian students. In this analytical study the subjects were recruited from students in Gonabad University of Medical Sci­ences, Iran, who studied in the first year (N=154). Students completed the questionnaires for assessing demographic, per­ceived health locus of control, self - esteem and psychological well- being data. The statistical analysis revealed a negative relationship between perceived Internal HLC and self-esteem with psychologi­cal well-being. The positive correlation of the perceived Chance HLC with psychological well-being was statisti­cally significant (r= 0.21, P< 0.01) and the positive correlation of the perceived Internal HLC with self-esteem was statisti­cally significant (r= 0.25, P< 0.01). A significantly direct relationship between low perceived Internal HLC, self-esteem and psychological problems was found among these students. The findings will be addressed in relation to their implications for effective mental health education based on health locus of control especially internal and powerful others beliefs associated with self-esteem for students. This will re­quire additional monitoring and uninterrupted trying in order to be effective.