Maternal compliance in immunization of preschoolers as related to health locus of control, health value, and perceived vulnerability.
The health attitudes and behaviors of 94 mothers of preschool children were investigated by personal interview in this descriptive correlational study. Mothers were divided into two groups, depending on their compliance or noncompliance, with recommended immunizations for their children. Subjects were assessed for health locus of control, perceived vulnerability to six communicable diseases, and health as a value. Demographic variables of age, education, religion, ethnicity, income, and recall of earlier poliomyelitis epidemics were studied. Analysis of variance, chi-square and descriptive statistics were used in the data analysis. Results revealed no significant differences between compliant and noncompliant mothers to health locus of control measure, perceived vulnerability to six diseases under study, or recollection of earlier poliomyelitis epidemics. The majority of mothers were Hispanic, Catholic, in their late twenties, of low income and with a 12th grade education or less. Health as a value was selected first or second by the subjects in most cases, regardless of immunization compliance behavior. Compared with a normative sample, mothers in this study were predominantly more external than internal in their locus of control orientation.
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D012945:Social Values