Abstract
Relationships were examined between the health locus of control and the attitudes of nurses towards health education, including the factor of “value for health”. A representative sample group of 259 people (152 nursing school students and 107 employees) completed a questionnaire, which included a Japanese version of the Health Locus of Control (JHLC) scales, “value for health” measures, and questions investigating the attitudes of the people toward health education on diabetes. Results showed that family-HLC scores in particular were positively related to the “value for a patient's cognition” of health education. They also showed that supernatural-HLC scores were negatively related to the “guidance and explanation” and “value for a patient's cognition” of health education, but positive effects were found for the “value for social support” of health education. Family-HLC and supernatural-HLC indicate the dimensions concerned with emotional relationships between oneself and others. Therefore, in this research, these patterns suggested that the nurses' recognition of emotional relationships influenced their attitudes towards health education.
