PurposeThe purpose of the study was to determine health-related behaviors, profile of health locus of control (HLC), and to assess the relationships between these constructs among patients suffering from chronic somatic diseases.Material and MethodsThree-hundred adult patients suffering from various chronic diseases participated in the study. The patients' mean age was 54.6 years (SD = 17.57).ResultsNo statistically significant differences were found between the different clinical groups in health-related behavior, acceptance of illness, internal HLC or chance HLC. Patients with neurologic conditions showed slightly lower powerful others HLC than did some other clinical groups. Health-related behavior was significantly positively related to all three categories of HLC, with most prominent associations observed with powerful others HLC. Only one type of health-related behavior – preventive behavior – correlated significantly and negatively with acceptance of illness. Differences in the frequency of health-related behavior were also found due to gender (women showing more healthy nutritional habits than men), age (older subjects showing more frequent health-promoting behavior), education (higher education was associated with less frequent health-promoting behavior) and marital status (widowed subjects reporting more frequent health-promoting behavior).ConclusionsHealth-related behavior in patients with chronic diseases seems to be unrelated to a specific diagnosis; however it shows associations with both internal and external HLC. Sociodemographic factors are also crucial factors determining frequency of health-related behavior in such patients.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the associations of emotional control with sociodemographic and clinical variables in a sample of patients with a range of chronic somatic diseases. The relationships between emotional control, coping styles and adjustment to the disease were investigated. The sample consisted of 300 patients with the mean age of 54.60 ± 17.57 years. Courtauld Emotional Control Scale was used to measure the patients' tendency to suppress negative emotions, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations was used to measure coping styles and Acceptance of Illness Scale was applied to determine adjustment to the disease. Patients with neurological conditions showed significantly lower suppression of anger. Levels of emotional control were found to be related to gender, age and educational level but not to the place of residence. Task-oriented style of coping with stress correlated positively with suppression of depression and anxiety, whereas acceptance of illness correlated negatively with suppression of anger. Levels of emotional control are only weakly related to the type of diagnosis; however, some clinical samples may show lower suppression of anger. Suppression of negative emotions is weakly related to adjustment indicators such as certain coping styles and acceptance of illness.