Health locus of control has been shown to influence how individuals approach their health and health-related decisions. The present study examined the variables predictive of older adults' health locus of control. A total of 261 adults aged 54-84 years completed a questionnaire about their health, approach to health, and background information about themselves. The results revealed that demographic indicators, health-related variables, and psychological variables-particularly health risk tolerance, future time perspective, health self-efficacy, and emotional instability-were related to older adults' health locus of control. Findings have implications for programs aimed at modifying older adults' health locus of control.Keywords Health locus of control . Older adults . PersonalityLocus of control has been used to understand how health-related beliefs are related to health status, behaviors, and recovery time (Boyle and Sielski 1981;Johansson et al. 2001;Luszczynska and Schwarzer 2005). Wallston et al. (1978) multidimensional health locus of control measure assesses three different aspects of health locus of control: internal (i.e.; belief that there is a relationship between behaviors and health state), powerful others (i.e.; belief that the actions of other individuals such as medical professionals largely determine health outcomes), and chance (i.e.; belief that there is a relationship between luck or fate and health status). With respect to older adults, health locus of control has been shown to impact health status and health behaviors (Boyle and Sielski 1981) including participation in preventive health programs that delay or reduce complications due to common chronic diseases associated with aging (Bell et al. 2002;McDonald-Miszczak et al. 2000).

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of background, psychological, and social variables on older adults' well-being, and how this may differ for men and women. Participants included 800 adults from the 2002 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), aged 60 to 101 years old (M = 71.22, SD = 8.46), who completed the optional positive well-being module. Gender-based regression models revealed that for men, marital status, self-rated health, and depression were significant predictors and accounted for 32% of the variability in positive well-being. Similar to men, self-rated health and depression were significant predictors of well-being for women. Additional significant predictors for women included age, the importance of religion, and volunteer work. Combined, these variables explained 35% of the variance in women's positive well-being. These results can help us understand which variables are important to target when developing interventions to improve the well-being of older men and women.

These findings can be used to improve educational efforts that seek to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness in older adults.