title: Locus of control perceptions among conjugally bereaved older adults: a pilot study.
abstract: While Locus of Control is typically operationalized as a single dispositional trait that generalizes across settings, it has also been conceptualized as two weakly related factors; Domain-Specific State Locus of Control and a generalized Trait Locus of Control. Malleability of these two factors was tested for recently widowed older adults in self-help support groups (n = 17) and a waiting-list control condition (n = 6). Domain-Specific State Locus of Control-Desire for Control subscale increased over the course of the three-week six-session intervention for support group participants. These group participants also showed decreased psychological distress from pre to post intervention. The change in Domain-Specific State Locus of Control-Desire for Control did not relate to this reduction in distress. As expected, Trait Locus of Control remained stable with greater Trait Internality related to less psychological symptomatology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton 76203-6587, USA.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: McKibbin
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Guarnaccia
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hayslip
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Murdock
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001601:Bereavement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012944:Social Support; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D017805:Widowhood