Assessment of Health-related Locus of Control among Undergraduates Substance Users and Non-Users

Abstract

Introduction: Locus of control is one of the most extensively investigated psychological constructs in literature and the purpose of the study was to assess health-related locus of control among undergraduate's substance users and non-users. Methods: Data from 574 students between ages 18 and 27 (n= 574, mean=21.15 (+/-1.8years) was collected from five tertiary institutions in AdoOdo-Ota LGA, Nigeria. An adapted and validatedversion of the World Health Organization (WHO) questionnaire on drug use surveys and the multidimensional health locus of control (MHLC) which was designed to measure the degree to which an individual feels they are in control of their ownhealth were employed for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferentialstatistics.Three research hypotheses were raised and tested. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The preliminary result shows that there is no significant difference in the health-related locus of control between substance users and non-users, and between heavy and occasional drinkers, but there exist significant differences based on gender. Conclusion: This article discusses the implications of these findings especially in the area of health education and the use of health locus of control measures