Locus of control and severity of psychiatric illness in the residential treatment of adolescents

The present study investigated the relationship between locus of control orientation, measured by the Nowicki-Strick- land Locus of Control Questionnaire, and severity of psychiatric illness, measured by the Global Assessment Scale, in 48 chronically disturbed adolescent inpatients. The findings supported the hypothesis that internal locus of control and severity of psychiatric illness are negatively correlated (r = -.29, df = 44, p.05). This relationship remained statistically significant after adjusting for differences in subjects’ age and length of treatment. The results indicate that locus of control may be a clinically useful measure of treatment effects. Locus of control orientation in this population seems to reflect the influence of social learning processes as well as important aspects of the inpatient’s experience of self and social reality.