The purpose of this paper is to develop a Japanese version of the Health Locus of Control (JHLC) Scales after the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control(MHLC) Scales (Wallston, K.A., et al., 1978). Horike (1988) gave a Japanese translation of the MHLC Scales which simply consist of three 6-item subscales (internal, powerful others, and chance), and found that the Scales are inapplicable to measuring Japanese way of thinking about health and illnesse.
In order to revise the inadequacy, this study started with making a 91-items questionnaire, based on a number of statements on health and illness by Japanese subjects.From a pretest of 328 college students and through factor analysis, five factors (subscales) were picked up: I (internal), F (family), Pr (professional), C (chance), and S (supernatural). By selecting 5 items for each of the 5 subscales, a new set of JHLC Scales was developed which consist of a total 25 items. When applied to 233 (male and female) subjects, alpha reliabilities for the JHLC Scales range from 0.68 to 0.87., showing the usefulness of the Scales.