Locus of control and regional differences in sickness absence in Sweden.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate if there are differences in locus of control (LOC), at a societal level, between two residential areas in Sweden with substantial differences in sickness absence.


METHODS
A postal questionnaire was sent to 1500 randomly selected men and women aged 20 - 64 years. Five hundred questionnaires were sent to people living in Stromsund (a sparsely populated municipality in northern Sweden with high rates of sickness absence) and 1000 questionnaires to people in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, which has a low rate of sickness absence.


CONCLUSIONS
A comparison of LOC in the two study areas supported our hypothesis to a certain extent, external locus being more prominent in Stromsund. When physical and mental health and income were considered, however, the differences disappeared. Consequently, this study did not support the opinion that differences in sickness absence can be explained by LOC at a societal level.
Selander
John
J
Centre for Studies on National Social Insurance, Mid-Sweden University, Ostersund, Sweden. john.selander@mh.se
Marnetoft
Sven-Uno
SU
Akerström
Bengt
B
Asplund
Ragnar
R
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007342:Insurance Benefits; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population; D018582:Sick Leave; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D014505:Urban Population; D014937:Work / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*