Determinants of health promotion in midlife women.

Health locus of control, self-esteem, and health status were analyzed for their impact on health-promoting life-style activities in 262 women between 35 and 65 years of age. Negative chance health locus of control, self-esteem, current health status, health worry/concerns, post-high-school education, and internal health locus of control explained 25% of the variance of likelihood to engage in health-promoting life-style activities. Two canonical variates explained 72.8% of the variance in the criterion set, the subscale scores of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (Walker, Sechrist, & Pender, 1987). Internal health locus of control, self-esteem, current health status, and future health status explained 36.3% of the variance of the self-actualization, interpersonal support, and exercise subscales; age, negative chance health locus of control, health worry/concern, and negative (poor) prior health status explained 36.5% of the variance of the health responsibility, nutrition, and stress management subscales. The canonical correlations for the two variates were .78 and .66, respectively. The study results support in part the relationships posited in the Pender health promotion model and previous research on women's health.