title: The Healthy Lifestyle and Personal Control Questionnaire (HLPCQ): a novel tool for assessing self-empowerment through a constellation of daily activities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The main goal of stress management and health promotion programs is to improve health by empowering people to take control over their lives. Daily health-related lifestyle choices are integral targets of these interventions and critical to evaluating their efficacy. To date, concepts such as self-efficacy, self-control and empowerment are assessed by tools that only partially address daily lifestyle choices. The aim of this study is to validate a novel measurement tool, the Healthy Lifestyle and Personal Control Questionnaire (HLPCQ), which aims to assess the concept of empowerment through a constellation of daily activities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Therefore, we performed principal component analysis (PCA) of 26 items that were derived from the qualitative data of several stress management programs conducted by our research team.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PCA resulted in the following five-factor solution: 1) Dietary Healthy Choices, 2) Dietary Harm Avoidance, 3) Daily Routine, 4) Organized Physical Exercise and 5) Social and Mental Balance. All subscales showed satisfactory internal consistency and variance, relative to theoretical score ranges. Subscale scores and the total score were significantly correlated with perceived stress and health locus of control, implying good criterion validity. Associations with sociodemographic data and other variables, such as sleep quality and health assessments, were also found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The HLPCQ is a good tool for assessing the efficacy of future health-promoting interventions to improve individuals' lifestyle and wellbeing.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Course Stress Management and Health Promotion, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Soranou Ephessiou 4, GR-11527 Athens, Greece. cdarviri@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Darviri
authors.forename: Evangelos C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Alexopoulos
authors.forename: Artemios K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Artemiadis
authors.forename: Xanthi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tigani
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kraniotou
authors.forename: Panagiota
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Darvyri
authors.forename: George P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Chrousos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008019:Life Style; D008603:Mental Health; D011209:Power, Psychological; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012890:Sleep; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*